To Aru Majutsu no Index: The Lost Light
by Tensouls
Summary: A sad event has come to Kamijou Touma that shocked the entire world and those who knew the God of Plague. Many questions were left unanswered by his death and from the shadow, an unknown group of magician rises. As if to make the matter more complicated, people said they saw a figure of Touma himself wandering around the street. what was the truth behind all of this? ToumaxHarem
1. Prologue: A-Sad-End

**Hi everyone, English is my second language so I apologize if there are any grammar mistakes in the story.**

 **Updated: 08/16/2016**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own To Aru Majutsu no Index.**

* * *

The snow was falling…..

It was cold…..

* * *

 **-Music 01: omake-pfadlib composed by Hiroyuki Sawano (go to my profile and you will find it at the bottom, please enjoy.)**

* * *

A spiky haired boy trembled as a blast of cool wind rushed through his skin, threaten to tear everything in his core with it intensity. Slowly, he dragged his feet through a vast land filled with trillion of crystalline water ices.

There was no clear destination in his mind.

Despite the heavy snow kept falling around him, the boy just kept moving forward without a care.

He moved…..

Then he stumbled…..

He fell down…

Then he stood up….

His action repeated and repeated and repeated until it could no longer happened again.

But the boy didn't allow that, using every last strength he could gather in his body he pushed his body to the limit.

He lifted his foot up and stepped down on the ground now covered in the white snow.

He took another step and another step…..

Then a strong gust of wind blew past him. The boy raised his right hand up to cover his face from the chilling cold it gave him.

But as he did that, he started to kneel down and panted heavily.

It was so cold….

So cold to the point that he could see a faint breath escaped from his shaking mouth even though his vision was blurry.

So freezing that he could notice the remaining heat inside his body are giving in to the cold, harsh environment.

 **Kamijou Touma** tried to stand up once more but he could no longer able to do that. He couldn't feel his feet anymore, no matter how hard he tried to move, it won't listen.

….come on…move…..

Those leg of him won't budge.

Eventually, he collapsed on the thick layer of snow. Touma breathed rapidly as he began to feel his feet went numb.

The snow kept falling…

It fell and covered the entire back of his black hoodie. Touma slowly lifted up his head and stretched out his left hand like he was trying to cling to something, something that completely invisible to his eyes, something that was never even there in the beginning.

….I need to…go back….

Digging his nails and fingers into the snow, he crawled on the ground, dragging his exhausted body with whatever strength he has left.

There were heavy burned marks on both of his hands and on his face. Some part of the winter uniform, which he was wearing, were torn off by many deep cuts and flame burns.

Yet, he didn't feel any pain, he felt nothing. He didn't even notice how badly his hand was frostbitten as it were exposed too long to the freezing temperature.

And he didn't even notice…

He was losing a lot of blood.

His stomach, his back, his side was bleeding.

Blood was streaming down from his nose and mouth.

Blood was dripping down from many deep wounds on his arms and leg.

As he crawled, the trait left by his blood became longer and longer.

…have to…keep going….

The spiky haired boy didn't care and desperately pulled himself through the massive white land.

He was worried.

He felt guilty and scared.

For the first time in his life, he regretted for letting this happen to **himself**.

Several hours ago, there was a battle, a really large scale battle that Kamijou willing to get himself involved to put an end to it and bring peace to the world like he always do.

Many illusions was shattered over and over by the power lied within his right hand.

However, at the end of the battle, bruises, wounds, deep cuts, burn marks, blood covered his entire body.

This was the consequence of his act. The full consequence of fighting alone.

Touma couldn't stretch out his arms any longer as the numb feeling spread to his arms and slowly went to his torso. The boy helplessly laid down his head on the icy cold ground. His defied gravity hair fluttered a bit when another gust of wind came. The whistling sound rang non-stop in his now paled ears.

…damn it…..move….

Touma gritted his teeth in agony, not because of the tremendous pain that flowing through every vein in his body. He gritted his teeth because he knew of the painful truth that was slowly coming to him.

….…move…..

He knew that him….Kamijou Touma…was on the verge of dead.

….don't let things become like this…..please, move…

It was useless.

It was futile.

No matter how hard he tries, those fingers of him, those hands of him, those arms of him, those leg of him. They won't budge.

…I can't let it end like this…..I can't….

He felt weaker and weaker as each second passed.

Letting out a dry breath, Touma faced upward with his chin rest on the cold ground. He couldn't view anything at all besides from the pure white color that his blurry eyes received. Never before did his eyes felt heavy so much.

Then, his vision darkened as he closed his eyes.

His strength has left his body.

He didn't feel cold anymore.

He could still hear the sound of wind gusted through his ears.

…there are still so many things I want to do…..with them…

On the other side of his eyelid, he saw a dim ray of light in complete darkness.

Was this what everyone see when they were on the brink of dead? Touma couldn't tell.

Where will that light lead him if he reach it?

And once he reached it, what will happen to him?

Will he truly die?

Upon thinking that, a great sense of dread hit him.

…..no…..

He felt scared. This darkness reminded him of the dark world that Othinus had put him in after the former magic god destroyed the world.

…I have to get up…

Fear slowly took over his mind. It was so empty.

The spiky haired boy struggled to open his eyes, to escape from those nightmare that he used to see every time he went to sleep in that bathtub. But his efforts was in vain.

…..I want to see them again…

He could no longer hear the sound of wind besides from the brief one of his own heart.

His mouth was so dry that he couldn't utter a single word.

It was so quiet.

It was so hopeless.

Unable to endure this, Kamijou Touma cried a soundless voice as he was afraid. Those negative emotions, those images of torture from a million of phases that he went through once again came back to haunt him. He thought he has finally over with it but he was wrong. It was still there, hiding deep inside his heart and waiting for the right moment to come out.

He couldn't imagine how frighten and tremble he was when those memories came into his head.

…no…get out of my head…I need to go back…..

Touma cried as he ever felt so regretful. His mind was so mess up that he wasn't sure if there were still sanity left in him.

…..back…..to everyone…

The memories from those hellish phases suddenly vanished and various image of every person he knew flashed across his mind. The spiky haired boy put on a bitter smile as he thought about them.

He thought about a young nun in white habit and Sphynx the calico cat.

….Index…..I'm sorry I can't be there to feed you….to protect you…from danger…Sphynx…..sorry for being a bad owner…I guess I can't buy you milk anymore…..

He thought about the former magic god who has been with him ever since she became a 15 centimeters in size.

….Othinus….I'm sorry…..for leaving you vulnerable to that bastard Kamisato….I'm sorry I couldn't save enough money to buy you that doll house in time….

He thought about the loli teacher in his school.

….Komoe-sensei…..It looks like I won't be able to finish all the assignments you gave me last week…..I'm sorry for not paying attention in your classes…..

His thought was cut short as he coughed up blood. His life was slowly drained away.

Despite that, he still continued with that smile on him.

He thought about a starry eyes girl and another girl with telepathy ability whom he had no idea that he almost lost them forever.

….Shokuhou…Mitsuari…just when I has finally able to remember you two…I'm so sorry for leaving so sudden….

He thought about a girl with chestnut hair who was obsessed with gekota and always tries zap him whenever she wants.

…Biribiri…no…Misaka…I'm sorry for not being able to keep that promise…sorry for not being around for you…those moment when you talk and chase after me to demand a duel..…it was a really fun time…

The list just went on and on. Touma thought about a lot of people that he had met and made friend with, knowing that this was probably his last moment.

…Otohime…..mom…..dad…I'm sorry for leaving you so early….I wish I could have prevented this…I wish I could have had the chance to see everyone one last time…

The boy kept apologizing for each person that appeared in his memories. There was nothing he could do, it was too late for him now.

And with that right hand of his, a miracle will likely never come to him. Nothing could save him from this situation now.

The dim light faded away as Kamijou's heartbeat decreased.

Slowly, his breath stopped and his body went limped.

The last thing remained in the spiky haired boy's head was an image of his younger self standing in front of the fading light. Staring at his younger self, Kamijou widened his eyes slightly when he noticed the kid's face has many scratches and big bruises. His clothe was dirty and full of dust as if he had been stone-throwing by a lot of angry people.

He remembered why they did that to him, it was because of his so called misfortune that bad luck happened to everyone around him when he was young. At one point, they saw him as a monster, a plague, a parasite that shouldn't be existed in this world.

He never got the chance to apologize to those kids that he used to play with. Even now, a part of him regretted because of that.

To him, that image of himself was almost like an illusion. The only illusion that he didn't want to break and instead embraced it.

…..are you alright?

The young Kamijou started crying, tears and snorts rolled down from his face as he looked down the lifeless body of his own.

…hey…don't cry…...you've endured everything until now, right?

He stood up and extended a hand toward the kid, for some reasons he felt his body becomes lighter…

…I have, too…..although, I still regret a lot of thing…I destroyed a world where everyone could have their own happiness….so…maybe…..

He rubbed the boy's spiky haired and put on a thin smile….

…maybe…

…..this is for the best…..

As he said that, the single ray of light disappeared…

…..

…..

The snow kept falling down…

…..

….

With that dim ray of light lost in the pure darkness…..

 **Kamijou Touma fell into an eternal slumber**.

...

The cold blast of wind stopped as the weather began to clear out. The last tiny water ice continued its trip to land on the thick layer of snow after it gently touched the paled skin of the spiky haired boy.

As silence filled in the vast land, a couple of voices spoke up breaking the quietness of the nature.

"Heh! So in the end, this is how the Imagine Breaker die."

"Haha, so pathetic!"

"And here I thought I could expect more of a challenge from this fool. What a letdown."

Many figures in black cloak stood in circle, all eyes directed toward the lifeless body of the high school boy now covered deep under the layer.

The mysterious dark-red aura covered around them subsided a bit before suddenly burst out like fire, letting the white ground filled with the transparent blood like color.

Then, came a few snicker.

Slowly, it became louder and louder.

Some pointed their fingers at him, laughing in a mocking way. Some was putting on the most sinister, twisted smile they could get to make fun of him now that he was no longer in this world. Some was really disappointed and thought he was too weak. Some was very satisfied just by watching the blood trait that he left behind.

And...

Some just kept silent.

Overall, they were all happy for the result that they have finally achieved.

Kill the wielder of the Imagine Breaker who was also known as the **God of Plague** , Kamijou Touma.

Of course, it was just a simple small part in their objective. Their main goal was higher than that.

"Hahaha! You sure were talking real big back there, you insect!"-one of the figure in black cloak approached the body of the spiky haired boy and kicked in his side multiple times."This is for breaking my nose and humiliating me in front of my comrades!"

"Enough, he is finally dead and that's all we need for now."-another figure stepped out and grabbed the shoulder of the aggressive man."This brat could still be useful to us even when he's already dead so don't mess up the body more than it used to be."

"Oh really?! How can you be so sure of that?"-a person stood on the far side of the large group said out loud.

The asked figure in black cloak didn't respond, instead he raised his hand up and snapped his finger. A knife made of ice appeared in front of him, he grabbed it and bent his body down, closer to the boy's right hand. Immediately, he thrust the knife into the boy's palm and it shattered into pieces after a sound of broken glass was heard.

"Wow~."-came a feminine voice from one of the figure, impressed by the sight.

"The Imagine Breaker is still attaching itself to this boy even though its host has already dead. Isn't this fascinating, everyone?"

"So that power and this thing must has a really deep connection."-another figure with the harsh voice of a young man stood out from the group and pointed at Touma whom he just refer to as a thing."This is starting to get very interesting now, are we going to chop off his hand and bring it back with us?"

"I won't recommend doing that though, it would be extremely dangerous."

"So what are we going to do next with the body then?"

"Well, we take it back with us and keep it or dump it in somewhere else, simple as that."

"Maybe we could have this trash to use as a stepping stone for our goal, it will continue to progress just like we all have planned."

"Good point, we could send this thing into Academy to declare to the whole world that the God of Plague is dead."

Comments and whispered broke out among the group as they debated about the fate of Touma's body. However, a clasp and a stern voice came after it soon brought the topic to an end.

"We have finally success in eliminating the God of Plague so there's no point for you all to argue about it, whether we need this brat or not isn't for us to decide. And I really doubt that the Imagine Breaker would stay any longer inside a dead host."-the man who thrust the magical knife into Touma's hand from earlier spoke up."The next step in our plan will require a lot of time and preparations so for now, take a good rest and wait for more orders from the leaders."

With that said, each of the figures in black cloak disappeared in a black fog one by one along with the dark red aura until only two of them stayed behind with the body. The man who stood next to Touma now cold body walked up to the last member of the group and gently patted on their shoulder.

"Carry the boy with you when you go back if you want, I'm going ahead."

The figure remained silent and just replied back with a nod. Receiving the answer, the man lowered his hand and walked forward a few more steps.

"I'm sorry. But this is how it should end, this is how we should do to achieve our goal."-the dark red aura around him disappeared."At least, that boy has been free from this dirty world, free from his suffering."

The man vanished in the black fog that emitted from his body.

"..."

The figure stepped close to the boy and stared down at him with a soft gaze.

Unexpected, the figure unhooded, revealing its face as a young girl near Touma's age. The girl fixed her gaze at the boy's face as she bent down her slender body and sat down next to him. Her crimson red eyes reflected the whole image of his paled skin covered in bruises, cuts and burned marks.

Putting down a torn black scarf with red, white patterns on the snow, she moved her hand toward the boy.

The young girl gently held up his left hand which has become icy cold. Her long black hair fluttered a bit as a small breeze went past her.

The dark red aura around her lessened.

"So…after saying all those breaking illusion nonsenses, this is how you end up with."-the girl spoke in a soft tone, almost like a whisper."A cruel death."

Her voice shook a bit as she tightened her grip on his hand.

"You and your misfortune has always been a disaster to everyone else back then. And now, you lost your own life because of the very same reason."

Tears swelled up in her eyes as she looked at the heavily burned mark on his hand.

"You really are naïve, you know? Even when you are fighting for your life, you still jump out to shield your enemy for no reason."

His kindness was what lead him to his end.

"Misfortune turned itself onto you."

His misfortune was what lead him to his end.

"In the end, you are just an existence that needs to be wiped off from the world, a God of Plague."

There was a long pause after that. The girl put down his hand and reached for the scarf on her side then stood up, black fog began to emit around her body and covered both of them.

" **Rest in peace, Kamijou Touma."**

...

A day later, an event occurred in Academy city that brings shock to a lot of people.

Kamijou Touma's dead body was found lying peacefully on one of the bench in district 7.

….

 **Prologue: A_Sad_End**


	2. Chapter 1: A-Broken-Promise

**Good day everyone, before we go into the story, I want to say a few things.**

 **In case anyone didn't notice. This story takes place in an alternative universe but most of the events in the canon stay the way it are. Only a few minor details were changed and you will see it as the story goes.**

 **And thank you for all the reviews, I really appreciate it. Well, that's all (quite short).**

 **Enjoy the story.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own To Aru Majutsu no Index.**

* * *

 **Chapter 1** **: A_Broken_Promise**

Misaka Mikoto narrowed her eyes, feeling a bit nervous as she stared through the glass front of a claw machine. With both hands steadily moved the level, a small sweat broke out from her forehead.

…okay…slowly….

The claw inside the machine moved according to her, it inched a few centimeters and stopped. Below the small crane was a gekota plush toy which the chestnut haired girl was concentrating on getting it.

She pressed a button next to the level and the crane lowered.

"No, I missed again."-the girl grumbled lightly as it descended into the gap next to the cute toy.

This was her third attempts but she won't give up that easily. Not when that gekota was in front of her, looking at her with its big, passionate eyes. At least that was how it seems in Misaka's vision.

As she inserted another coin into the machine, a voice came to her ears.

"Biribiri, are you done yet?"

Leaning against the side of the machine, a certain spiky haired boy let out a long sigh while he waited for the middle school girl to do what she was doing, but it seemed like his patience has nearly reached its limit. A spark flew out from Misaka's bangs as she detected a hint of nonchalance in his tone and the way he addressed her.

"It's not Biribiri, it's Misaka Mikoto!"-she turned to him, slightly annoyed."Why are you keep calling me like that? How many more time do I have to repeat my name to you, idiot?"

"Why are you angry at me? That's a very cute nickname and it suits you."

Misaka reddened at the word and quickly turned her face away, it really had an impact on her heart.

…c-c-cute! He said it's cute! B-but he was talking about the nickname. Oh~, but he also said it suits me, then does that mean he is saying that I'm cut-no no no! That idiot probably didn't mean it that way…but still….ahhh! What to do?!

Feeling the warm on her cheek, the third ranked level 5 shook her head furiously, trying to discard all of the conflicting thoughts in her mind. Although Misaka didn't actually favor the nickname the idiot gave her, a part of her still felt happy. After all, Biribiri was the nickname exclusive to the only person that always made her heart fluttered.

But she would never admit it to him though….not yet.

The spiky haired boy straightened his gesture and looked back at the flustered girl. Seeing the look on Misaka's face, the boy put a hand to his chin thoughtfully.

"Wait, how about I give you a new nickname this time? Let's see…..oh, Misachu-"

A lightning spear shot past him the moment his new nickname for the chestnut haired girl were spoke. Thankfully, it only hit an arcade machine nearby since no one was in it way.

Cold sweat started dripping down the boy's head as he watched smoke flowing out from the machine.

"Care to repeat that again?"-Misaka asked with a gentle smile that didn't look gentle at all, her eyebrows were twitching.

"N-no, nothing Biribiri-sama!"-the boy slowly backed away, hand waving frantically."This Kamijou-san won't say anything else that touches your prideful name!"

"Then call my name properly you idiot!"

Another bolt of lightning came.

This time it was aimed directly at the unfortunate boy. With a good reflex, that boy simply raised his right hand up in response and a familiar broken glass sound echoed in the air. The attack immediately disappeared once it hit the palm of his hand.

"Mi-Misaka-san, please calm down."

…san…..he said…..

This guy really likes to make her feel irritated, doesn't he?

A vein popped out on Misaka's forehead as she clenched her fists. More and more sparks appeared around the chestnut haired girl's body and repeatedly gave out the buzzing sounds. Kamijou nervously held out his hand once more to ready for another strike.

However, it didn't come. Misaka just let out a small sigh and the electricity disappeared. No matter how many times she tried to zap him, he would negate it all. So instead of doing that, she would just spoke a few words to him.

A few "magical words" that recently has become super effective in teasing him.

"After this is done, **I'll chase you through the whole night**."-she grinned.

Like his blood was being drained out, Kamijou paled at the words. In an instance, he performed a dogeza.

"NO NO NO! Please have mercy on me Misaka! It would be a total nightmare for me if you do that, there is still a ton of assignments that I haven't done! I still need to keep the fridge from running out of ingredient! I still have to make up the time for Mitsuari and cook dinner for Index and Othinus…."-he paused and lifted up his face as he remembered something."…..now that reminds me, I still haven't made lunch for them yet! NNOOOOO! How could I forget such a critical fact?! Such misfortune!"

See? Super effective.

The hero who stopped World War 3 grabbed his head and gasped in horror, knowing that his misfortune has already lingered around his neck. It always has a good grasp on him.

Misaka grinned got wider at the sight. But that grin didn't even last more than two seconds when she noticed something wasn't right in his words.

To her, it wasn't right.

….make lunch…and cook dinner for WHO?!

"Idiot! Who is-"

"Misaka!"

Misaka startled by Touma's raised voice, her words was cut short as she didn't expect of what came next.

Kamijou stood up and held up her hand, his glittered blue eyes looked straight into her matched hair's color one with full of pleading.

"Please, anything but that, Misaka."-such a small and gentle voice was spoke from the spiky haired boy which made Misaka's face slowly turned crimson like a strawberry."So many things are at stake for this poor Kamijou-san right now. If helping you to get that gekota will ease your anger, then let me do that to repent myself for not calling your name in a proper way."

…his face….so close.

Normally, this kind of situation would never happen. Misaka has never anticipated this, her mind almost flew to nine cloud when Kamijou's moved his face close to her and his grip on her hand tightened.

This is too much. Since when that "magical words" has become this much effective?

"Wait, if….if you do that…..I…..I'll…."-the blushed middle school girl muttered as an intimate scenario was happening in her head.

The moment when she closed her eyes and let their lips touc-…

"Alright, let's hurry and get on with this."

The visible blush on Misaka's face was wiped off with a simple line, the high school boy released her hand and turned to the machine.

An illusion has been shattered, that is Touma for you.

Misaka stared blankly at him, restraining the urge to give the boy another zap.

….this guy….he is always like this.

"So Misaka, which gekota you want me to get?"-asked Touma as he grabbed the level."The pink one or the green one with the medal?"

"Are you sure you CAN get them? This game is one of those games that purely depends on luck, you know."-Misaka replied with a hint of sarcasm in her tone.

"Purely? Oh no, if you keep thinking like that, you'll be surprised Misaka. There may be some arcade games that required only luck but with this kind of game, the change of losing is 50/50 which is totally fine for me. This Kamijou-san don't need his rotten luck to mess with his gaming skills so…..."-taking a deep breath, Kamijou's eyes shot opened in determination."Name it, Misaka! Tell me which frog you want to get and I will show you that I can get it by my own skill!"

"Okay, the green one with the medal."

Immediately, Kamijou moved the crane and let it hang above the said toy. Misaka watched in amusement.

Having the perfect angle to snatch the toy, the spiky haired boy slam his fist down at the button.

And the result was…

(Several minutes later)

"Ah~, it's so cute."

Misaka embraced the plush toy in a full hug while her cheek rubbed against the frog's head. The level 5 esper was in joy, smiling brightly at her favorite merchandise now that she has finally had it.

"Oh~, so cute."

Pink background and sparkled special effects were all over the girl.

But next to her, a dark and depressing aura was surrounding the unlucky boy.

Kamijou fell on all fours with anime tears streamed down his face as he stared at the wallet lying on the ground.

That was his fifth attempts.

He has successfully got the prize out but the money, his money, stayed in there forever.

For a level 0 like him, 3000 yen wasn't small. It was the only thing that kept him from eating instant noodle all the time, especially when there were two freeloaders in his apartment and a cat.

Touma didn't see this coming and now he regretted of doing so.

"Only…..2000 yen left."-despair lingered in his voice."So careless, how am I supposed to survive this month?"

"Come on, don't be so gloomy"-Misaka bent down and showed him the medal sticking to the toy's chest by a safety pin."Look, you helped me got the medal so cheer up."

"Yeah."-he looked up to her, deadpanned."And how is that supposed to help me with my financial problem, Misaka? Just so you know, this Kamijou-san's finance is always in the red zone, no matter how hard I try to change this, it never gets any better."

"Weren't you the one who insisted on getting this by you own skill?"

Kamijou couldn't retort back to that. He hang his head in depression once again and Misaka let out a sigh.

"Here, since you helped me with this."-the chestnut haired girl took out a money note."Keep the change, you don't need to pay me back."

Kamijou shifted his gaze to the 5000 yen note on the girl's hand. His eyes glued to it for a few seconds then slowly he reached his hand toward it.

To her surprised, Kamijou closed her palm and pushed her hand back.

"Thanks for the charity, Misaka. But I can't accept this, I'll find another way to deal with my problem."-he stood up and dust off his pants."I'm pretty sure there is still a few money left in my fund, might be not enough to past the month but I guess I'll manage."

Misaka opened her mouth to say something but stopped. She knew that arguing about this wouldn't make him changes his mind.

….honestly, he's always like this.

He always helps people but never asks for anything in return. Even if it was an offer or anything out of charity, he would just reject it.

"But I want to help you, you know."-the girl muttered, feeling somewhat disappointed. She knew this side of him too well.

"It's fine Misaka, just consider that gekota as my apology gift to you, I was repenting myself for calling you Biribiri all the time after all."

Mikoto nearly jumped at his words, her cheeks burned hot. She didn't think he could hear that.

…idiot….it's not like I hate that nickname.

"By the way, why do you need that medal so much? I thought you have plenty of these frog stuffs."-Kamijou said as he pointed at the medal on the gekota's chest.

"But not the medal. This one is a special edition and it is really rare."

"I see. Well, I guess we're done here, see you later then."

Kamijou turned around and walked away with a hand waving back at the Tokiwadai student.

"Ah…"

 **…** **..don't go…**

Misaka's anxious look followed his back, an arm stretched out to grab him but he has already far from her grasp.

This wasn't over yet. This medal wasn't the only reason why she dragged him to the Underground Mall. There was still one thing she wants to do.

And she needed him for that….no, she absolutely needed him for that.

"Wait! We're not done yet."

Misaka said out loud but the spiky haired boy didn't hear it. He kept walking, moving further from her view.

The chestnut haired girl ran to him. She pulled his sleeve before the boy could step on the stair that lead back him to the surface.

"Huh? What is it this time, Biri….I mean Misaka?"-Kamijou looked at her over his shoulder."Didn't you get what you need?"

For a short moment, Misaka felt like she just saw a strange glint in his eyes but it quickly vanished when her image was reflected on it.

"Haven't you listened to me? We're not done yet. Now you coming with me, we're going to get the real prize."

"The real prize? What is that?"-Kamijou raised an eyebrow at this news.

The middle school girl didn't answer, instead, she looked away…and blushed.

"You…you will know it when you go there."-Misaka stuttered which made the spiky haired boy confused.

She couldn't tell him, at least not now. It would be really embarrassing.

Without waiting for Kamijou's respond, Misaka went on first, leaving the boy in ponder. After a moment of thinking, he followed her.

The two stopped at a store where all of the gekota merchandise was displayed at the front.

…..ok….this is it.

Holding the gekota in her arm, Misaka took the medal off its chest and a thin smile started to form on her lip. Somehow, a tinge of pink also appeared on her cheeks as she turned to the spiky haired boy.

"Let's go in."

"Hold on, Misaka."

"….?"

A question mark danced on the Electromaster when Kamijou held up a hand to stop her and pointed at the store.

"This is strangely familiar…..wait a second."-eyes widened, Kamijou took a step back in astonishment."Misaka, don't tell me we're going to sign up another pair contract?!"

"W-w-what are you talking about, you idiot?! Don't jump into conclusion like that, this time is different!"-the Electric princess stammered, the blush on her cheek once again spread all over her face.

"Different?"-slowly, he gasped."Marriage contract?!"

"What does marriage contract has anything to do with this?!"-Misaka sparked up as steam burst out from her head.

….w-w-what's with him...marriage contract?! How can he even comes to that conclusion?!...could it…..could it be that he wants to-No No! You know that is impossible, Misaka! Maybe he was just joking around, that's right! That has to be it!

Even if that was a joke, it was too much for a girl who has the heart of a maiden like Misaka to handle.

But….did Kamijou really joke or just being awfully dumb? No one could answer that.

Thankfully, after a lightning spear was shot out and a clumsy apology was spoke, Misaka was able to calm down a bit and the two headed into the store.

But the blushing on her face didn't die down though. It just got even redder.

(Another several minutes past)

The chestnut haired girl hanged her head in disappointment, her downcast eyes gazed at the gekota and the medal in both hands. Things didn't turn out as she has expected.

There has been a rumor about this medal that she spent so much time to look for. Saten Ruiko, who was a fan of internet rumors and urban legends, has found this and told it to Misaka which greatly sparked up an interest in the chestnut haired girl. It was said that whoever found that frog with the medal on its chest will be received two matched love charms.

This was where it got interesting for Mikoto. The two persons who receive the charms will become a couple. The description of the rumor was vague and simple.

But since this was an extremely rare edition, the middle school girl decided that it wouldn't hurt to try. In fact, she was really excited.

 **…** **..I raised my hope for it…**

At the moment, she was sitting on a bench, letting the natural sunlight warms her skin and the small breeze to blow away this depression of her. In the end, she couldn't deem the rumor to be true or not as there was no charm in that store. However, the shop assistant didn't deny the rumor though but that wasn't enough to Misaka.

….I really want to get those charms.

 **...so I can be one step closer to you….**

The middle school girl glanced at her companion. The spiky haired boy, who sat next to her, has been quiet the whole time when they came out of the store and went up to the surface. His blue eyes glued to the ground like he was in a deep thought, the expression on his face was unreadable.

 **…** **..why are you making that face?...**

"It's there something in your mind?"

"….."

"Hey, are you listening?"

"…."

The boy didn't show any reaction. He just kept his gaze at the solid ground as if he has wandered to somewhere beyond the definition of reality in his mind. Oddly enough, that strange, sharp glint appeared again in his eyes.

Feeling worry, Misaka shook him gently and the boy gave a sudden jolt before turning his head to her.

"W-what is it, Misaka?"

"You're spacing out, what's wrong?"

"I-it's nothing."

"You're stammering."-Kamijou looked away, sweating a bit."You're not getting into any trouble, are you?"

"No, I'm not in trouble."

"Are you?"-Misaka narrowed her eyes in suspicious as she leaned closer to him.

"I'm not."-Kamijou let out a small sigh."It's just….a lot of things has been in my mind lately. But forget about me, what are you going to do now, Misaka? Whatever you want to find in that shop, they don't have it and just what are we trying to find here, exactly?"

 **…** **but I'm worried about you…**

"It's….well, it's…I can't really tell you."-Misaka stuttered, her cheek reddened a bit."…..not yet."

It would be embarrassing to say at the very least. And if she was to answer for real, it would turn into a confession.

"What?"-Touma stared at her with half-opened eyes.

"W-when we found it, I'll tell you."

 **…** **I hope I could tell you…..**

The spiky haired boy sighed again, bringing irritation to the girl. But she shrugged it off, knowing that she might have been asking too much from him.

"Don't sigh."

"Alright, if you don't want to tell me then it's fine. Anyway, I'm going back now, let's stop here for today."

"Heh?"

"Sorry Misaka, but like I said earlier, many things are at stake for this Kamijou-san right now. If I don't come back to my apartment before that sun sets, surely there will be a deadly combo awaits for me."-said a shivered Kamijou as he rubbed his head.

 **…** **no….don't go…**

Just as he said that, a thunder strike was heard from afar causing them both to look at the approaching black clouds. Kamijou blinked at it for a second then slowly shifted his eyes back to the chestnut haired girl.

"Um…Misaka, you're not mad at me by any chances, aren't you?"-he asked nervously, pointing a finger to himself.

Misaka's eyebrows twitched slightly, she knew what he was implying.

"Idiot, that was nature's doing. It has nothing to do with my abilities."

Then came the sound of rain, slowly, small drops began to drip down at the view in front of them. Kamijou and Misaka watched as it fell rapidly and became heavier. As they was sitting under a roof, the gentle sound of a splattered water kept repeating over and over above their head.

A heavy rain.

"Then that means the weather hates me today, such misfortune."-Touma stood up, zipping up his hoodie and put the hood on."Still, I need to go back."

"W-wait, are you free this weekend?"-Misaka asked quickly which made the boy looked back at her and raised an eyebrow.

"No, I'll be busy this whole week, Misaka, and maybe even the next week. There is a lot of things I need to do, the homework, the groceries, making time for a friend and a few other stuffs."

"I see."-Misaka's eyes softened, feeling a bit down.

"If I have my free time back, I'll call you."

The chestnut girl looked up to him in surprised.

"I don't know why you won't tell me about the stuff we're looking until the end but since you dragged me around the entire morning to look for it, it must be important to you. So tell me where to go next beforehand, Misaka. When I have free time, I'll call you and I will wait for you there, I promise."

"Okay, we will meet in front of Seventh Mist, there's a store that also sells gekota merchandise in there."-she nodded and smiled."You better keep your words, okay?"

"I will."

Unexpectedly, Kamijou took out a small notebook from his pocket and wrote something in there.

…is that a notebook? When?

This was new to Misaka, who was staring at him with curious eyes, since she has never seen him taking note before. As curiosity grew in her, the Railgun stood up and took a small peek at the note. Although she knew it was bad to look at other people's stuff, but she couldn't hold back this overwhelming feeling in her stomach.

Through a quick glance, she saw a small piece of paper sticking out from the page he was writing, probably used to mark the pages number. However, upon taking a closer look Misaka widened her eyes.

…..a ticket?

It wasn't any normal tickets.

It was a ticket to the first live concert of a new talented singer, **Shutaura Sequenzia** , who was believed to be the "new" **Meigo Arisa**.

…how did he has that ticket?!

 **…** **..I wonder…..**

Done taking note, Kamijou closed the book and put back into his pocket. As Misaka was about to ask him about the ticket, she froze on the spot by a warm smile coming from the boy himself.

"Well, I'll be going now."

 **…** **.no! Stop him!…..**

"See you later, Misaka."

With a small wave, Kamijou rushed off. The figure of him running became blurry and eventually disappeared into the rain.

 **...come back!…...**

Hasn't out of daze, Misaka just stood there looking at the direction where Kamijou's was once visible. She could feel her heart rate increased and a burning hot sensation on her cheek.

 **Crackle!**

All of a sudden, a crackling sound echoed, startled the middle school girl. Misaka looked down at the medal in her hand.

Her breath halted as she saw a small crack on its surface.

An ill omen.

 **...go! After him!...please….**

Bad feelings began to rush through the chestnut haired girl.

Nervous.

Sorrow.

Sad.

Misaka couldn't explain why she felt this way but for some reason, a thought came to her.

Something was wrong….

Something really terrible was about to happen.

…it couldn't be….

 **…** **..GO!...**

Instinctively, she dashed out from the shelter and ran after that unfortunate boy. Each heavy water drops fell on her head, her uniform but the girl paid no mind to it. She forced her feet to move faster, hopefully that she could catch up to him, to prevent him from whatever that created these emotions in her.

 **…** **no matter what! Stop him!...you have to…..**

…found you!

There he was, far ahead of her, stumbling his feet slightly under the rain every time he turned at a corner.

Misaka called out to him but he kept moving forward.

On top the sky, the lightning became louder and shot out repeatedly. The view became darker as black clouds covered the entire horizon.

Misaka tried to call him again but he didn't turn back.

Her voice couldn't reach him.

Then, with a terrified roar, another thunder strike came. Its gleaming bright light covered the whole view of the Tokiwadai girl causing her to close her eyes in reflex.

She opened her eyes again and all she could see was total blackness. The sound of rain was still there yet she didn't feel any drop of waters hitting her.

"Try again! One, two!"

A voice came from behind and Misaka turned around. The next thing she knew, she was looking at an operating room through a glass that separated the room from the outside world.

…..this is…

 **...no….**

"No sign of heartbeat!"

"Again!"

On the other side of the glass, Heaven Canceller, the frog face doctor was frowning, sweating a lot as he watched the lifeless body of Kamijou jerked up by a defibrillator. The doctor was trying his best to revive the death heart of the spiky haired boy but the chance to save him was too slim.

 **…** **this can't be happening!…**

….no…..

Both hands covered her mouth, Misaka trembled in horror.

It was unbearable to watch.

Bruises, burned marks, frostbites, deep cuts, dry blood was everywhere on his body.

He was hurt so badly that there was no sign of life in his paled face.

 **...please wake up!...**

Tears started to form in the chestnut haired girl's eyes and it streamed down her cheek, her heart sank as she looked at him.

The heart rate monitor rang non-stop with a single straight line appeared on the screen. It has already gave out this noise when the nurse set the wire connecting to the machine on his body.

It was so loud yet so painful at the same time.

The frog face doctor wiped a sweat from his forehead and gave another order, his tone was full of worry.

"Again!"

Kamijou's body jerked up once more time with the shock.

…

….

There was no changing in his heart rate.

Misaka looked like she was about to collapse on her feet at any moment when Heaven Canceller shook his head in frustration and took off his scrubs.

There was nothing they could do.

It was too late.

 **…** **.NO!...**

"No! What are you doing?! Save him!"-Misaka slam her fists into the glass as hard as she could."He must still be alive!"

The frog face doctor along with all the other surgeons and nurses began to leave the operating room. After everything they tried, not even one of them could afford to look back at Kamijou.

The surgery has failed.

Misaka gritted her teeth, punching the glass over and over.

"You idiot! Why are you lying there?! Wake up!"

Silence…..

"What about that promise you make with me?!"

Silence…

"Wake up!"-she sobbed."Please…wake up."

Light in the room started to turn off one by one and the sound of heavy rain took over. Unable to accept this, Misaka cried and screamed his name in despair.

"TOUMAAAAAA!"

….

Misaka woke up from her slumber with a startle by a very loud thunder strike sound. Her eyes darted around in confusedness. The young student recognized the place, she was in her room in the Tokiwadai dormitory.

She looked up at the clock hanging on the wall above the front door, the hour hand has already moved past nine.

Although it was still morning, outside the window, the sky was so dark and the heavy rain hasn't showed any sign that it would stop in the next few days.

The girl gently rubbed her eyes and at that moment, she realized both side of her cheeks was wet with tears, undried. The cracked gekota medal was in her hand, clenched by her trembling fingers.

What she saw back then in her sleep wasn't a dream nor a nightmare.

It was a reminder of the true, the cruel reality that Misaka herself couldn't accept.

Right after learning of what had happened to that spiky haired boy, she rushed to the hospital in district 7 where Kamijou's wounded body was sent to as soon as she could.

She didn't want to believe it. There was no way something like that could happen to that idiot.

She kept telling herself that but the moment when she opened the door that lead into Kamijou's room…

All she could do was weep.

"Onee-sama."

Misaka moved her teary eyes to another bed next to her as the voice of a roommate came to her ears. The level 4 teleporter was sitting near the edge of her own bed, looking at the the chestnut haired girl with full of worry.

"Kuroko."-Misaka muttered.

"Did you just have a nightmare?"-the pigtails teleporter asked in a soft tone.

Misaka didn't answer, she just looked down at the medal in silence.

Kuroko narrowed her eyes as she watched the look on Misaka's face, seeing her precious onee-sama like this hurt her greatly. For the Ace of Tokiwadai to become like this, surely it must has been very painful.

…..no.

The pigtails girl shook her head slightly at the thought. What was she thinking? It was truly painful and she could feel it, too.

The pain of losing someone closes to you.

Kuroko got out from the bed and stood before Misaka, one hand reached to the handkerchief in her pocket and gave it to the girl. Misaka took it and cleaned the tears on her face. Then she looked up to Kuroko.

"Why are you still here, Kuroko? Shouldn't you be in class at this hou-"-her words came to a halt as she was caught by surprise.

There were tears in Kuroko's tawny eyes. Small drop but visible enough for a person to see it from up close.

"Kuroko, you're crying?"

"…"-she answered with a nod.

….Kuroko was shedding tears? Could it be…

Misaka opened her lip to ask something but was quickly interrupted by her kouhai.

"Onee-sama, Uiharu and Saten-san has already arrived at Kamijou-san's funeral. Don't you think it's time you should go there to see his face one last time?"

"…I….."-Misaka's whisper like voice shook as she placed a hand to her chest."….I don't know, Kuroko…I don't know if I can accept this….this is….this is too much…..just why…."

Her shoulders shivered, tears once again made it way down her cheek as she recalled the sight of him lying motionless on the patient bed with his eyes forever never opened up again. Kuroko wrapped her arms around her trembling onee-sama, letting her head rest on her. There was no ulterior motive behind this act, the level 4 teleporter truly wanted to comfort her.

And she, too, was having difficult holding her tears in.

"It's alright, onee-sama. Just cry out, let everything out if you want, scream as loud as you can if it could express every emotions you are holding in you. In this weather, no one will complaint or be disturbed by us."-Kuroko let out a light snort."…that's why….please, let it all out, onee-sama, Kuroko will always be here to listen….so you could feel better, even if it's just a little bit."

The medal fell out of the chestnut haired girl's hand and bounced on the ground while she raised her arms to hug her roommate.

Misaka then cried helplessly on Kuroko's shoulder.

"….Touma….Touma….…just why…"

Kuroko's grip on Misaka's brown vest got tightened. Soon, tears also streamed down her face.

Their cry mixed together with the heavy rain.

And the lightning roared non-stop.

For Misaka, the promise that spiky haired boy made with her on that day could no longer be fulfilled.

From now on, without him, it could only remain as a broken promise.


	3. Chapter 2: An-Unvoiced-Feeling

**Good day everyone, once again, thank you so much for following and review this story.**

 **Now, to answer some of the reviewers' questions.**

 **Guest: at first, I planned to do some of the character's reactions. But as the story progress, there will be more.**

 **wildarms13: I don't think I can handle that much, Toaru universe is a really massive place. But we'll see and thank you for the review.**

 **Handsomistic1: I don't know if I've ever heard of this movie you talked about, maybe you should read the last part of the prologue again. I'm sure your question would be clear out soon enough.**

 **Finally, for those who are still wondering about the fate of a certain spiky haired boy, this chapter will wrap up everything for your question.**

 **Alright, that's everything. Enjoy the story.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own To Aru Majutsu no Index.**

* * *

 **Chapter 2** **: An_Unvoiced_Feeling**

Inside a dark room, a youthful woman with shining golden hair sat alone next to a small table. The flickered light from a single candle placed on it barely brightened the place.

Laura Stuart, who was known as the Archbishop of the Church of England, let out a small sigh as she looked down at a chess board where all the pieces were scattered around in a rather messy position. The woman picked up a Pawn piece that she just knocked down and put it aside the board.

Resting her chin on one hand, she paused for a moment then reached out to one of the pieces standing on the opposite side. As she lifted it up, her blue eyes scanned over the sixty-four squares on the board, thinking for the next move.

Five seconds…

Ten seconds….

The piece was put back to its original spot and the woman sighed again as she diverted her view to a monitor in front of her. She was waiting for an individual from the other side of the world to make his move but perhaps it would be unlikely to happen.

…he doesn't want to continue the match on today, too….it seems….

The buzzing sound coming from the big screen was cut short as the Archbishop pressed the off button on a remote, which was the only science related device that she could use without having any difficulty. Although on/off was the only switch that she learned to use.

Outside the St. George's Cathedral, on the evening sky, the rumbling sound of lighting continuously howled together with many strong gust of winds blowing into the streets of London.

A storm was coming.

Laura paid no mind to that. At the moment, she couldn't find herself in the mood to play the unfinished match that recently hasn't progress for more than one turn with that individual.

Picking up a chess piece that stood closest to her, Laura stared at it in boredom.

There was this unpleasant feeling that has been bothering her, annoying her, giving her a headache at the current state of Necessarius.

More than half of female population in the Anglican Church has fallen into distress and depression, some was even on the verge of tears for unknown reasons. Laura has no idea what was wrong at first until she was informed by Tsuchimikado later on.

Now the woman knows what has led the members of the Church of Necessary Evilto this circumstance. It was truly awful and unfortunate, indeed.

Imagine Breaker, the hero of World War 3 whom Kanzaki has a crush on and the guardian of Index Librorum Prohibitorium, has suddenly passed away….and no one could tell the reason why.

As Laura was deep in thought, a gleaming glow of thunder glared into the dark room and came the repeating noise of splattered water drops. It started raining.

The Archbishop looked out the window and she could only see a blurry, dim light of a lamppost across the road.

Like the emotions that was flowing within the people of the Anglican Church, the sight, the weather and the atmosphere were heavy.

Laura narrowed her eyes, feeling somewhat disappointed. The Archbishop didn't know why but unexpectedly the news about his death also affected her.

The woman's thoughts began to circulate around an event in the past.

If she remembered correctly, she had caught a small glimpse of his appearance at one time during the finale of the Buckingham Palace battle but didn't have the chance to talk to him.

It was such a shame, she has been looking forward to meet the wielder of the Imagine Breaker at least once in person to thank him for all the feats he had done for the church.

And it wouldn't be too much to say that she wanted to recruit him since according to that Backstabbing Blade, that boy didn't choose to stand for neither the Magic nor the Science side.

To her it was a good opportunity.

Anything to bring the advantage to her side in order to drag that individual from the other side of the planet to the light and take charge of his assets. That boy could have been an important factor in that plan of her.

But it's impossible now.

…..perhaps that chance is no longer existed for me.

Laura leaned back at the chair, letting the tip of her incredibly long hair, which has been tied up in a large hairpin, fluttered gently. She placed the piece in her hand next to another one.

…..there's no point in teasing Kanzaki and others about that boy anymore.

His existence has effected them greatly and now the outcome of this lost was much more than Laura herself could anticipate.

Index has strongly refused to go back to England no matter how hard Stiyl tried to convince her.

Othinus the former Magic God also shared the same decision with the nun in training.

Itsuwa didn't have the will to talk to anyone. Apparently, the girl has locked herself up in her own room and hasn't gone out ever since, weeping, calling the name of that boy in despair.

The Saint of the Amakusa church was different, she still managed to keep the stoic look on her face after hearing the news. But the Archbishop didn't see it that way, she could tell that Kanzaki was broken from deep inside, although how badly the sadness has taken over her is still unclear.

The rest of the members of Necessarius were also going through the same state.

Those emotions, those fragile yet dark and unshakable feelings that lingered around the entire anti-magic organization was the cause of her headache and boredom.

How long is this going to last? Only time could tell.

Laura would have to put her plan aside to deal with this annoying headache in her head.

After all, she was aware that the individual from the other side of the Earth is also having the same problem as her.

Trying to handle a situation that has already out of his grasp.

"What will you do now, Aleister?"-the woman spoke as she poke one of the two pieces and let it fell down, rolling slightly on the board.

The Imagine Breaker, the power that represents the hopes, the ideas of those who want to cling to this reality has moved on from this world.

Only the World Rejecter, the power that represents the desires, the dreams of those who wish to escape from it remained.

The balance has been broke.

"What will come next in the head of the greatest magician in history?"-Laura asked a question that she didn't expect to have a respond from her chess opponent."Continue with that plan of yours, or let you conflicted desires gives away the path you have chosen?"

(….)

The dreary sound of heavy rain went on, making the woman sighed and frowned at the entire issue she was facing.

….such a crisis for both sides.

Truly, the death of the boy has brought up the kind of scenario that also nearly beyond her grasp.

Completely unpredictable.

….with the absence of the Imagine Breaker, just how the world will turn out from now on, I wonder.

The question couldn't be answer by any means, not by the Archbishop herself nor the man on the other side of the world.

Laura stared down at the lying chess piece once more and she picked it up along with all the other pieces. The small scraping noise of the moved chair echoed as the woman stood up and put away the board.

For better or worse, until this event passed, Laura would have to find a way to deal with this boredom and that headache in her head. But first, taking a bath would be a priority.

….ah, speaking of that boy, his funeral must have started around this time in that city.

Even if the chance to thank him has long gone, but for all the things he has done for Necessarius, that boy could at least deserve a small pray.

It was thanks to that spy, Stiyl and Kanzaki that she knew about the existence of the spiky haired boy. But not until this shocking event that she has finally had a good grasp on his full name.

…may you find peace in the afterlife, Kamijou Touma.

Laura leaned closer to the candle. With a blow, the flicked light on it extinguished.

…

As London was engulfed in a storm, on the other side of the globe, the weather above a certain advanced city of science wasn't any better.

It was like the entire world was experiencing the darkest day in its history.

Academy city, where technology was believed to be thirty years ahead of the world, was enveloped in the fury of nature. Lightning appeared rapidly through many gaps of the pitch black cloud, following by the rampage of heavy rain.

However, despite all of that, it didn't effect on a single man, not even a little.

The Windowless Building, where the General Superintendent of the city, Aleister Crowley, resided, carried an absolute silence. The "human" was there, floating tenderly in the tube.

His usual calm, expressionless face that rarely showed a small trait of feeling now filled with nothing as he stared at a screen with a pair of widened eyes.

A rage was forming.

A thousand thoughts was emerging in his mind, crushing into each other.

…..who…

On the display screen was an unclosed coffin.

…who had done this?

The coffin where…lied the paled body of a certain spiky haired boy.

…who had tampered with my plan? Who had ruined it?

This has never been a part of his plan.

The man gritted his teeth and let out a roar like that of a furious beast, demanding an answer that no one could explain or even sure if it was existed.

A puzzle with no solution.

"WHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO?!"

Anger, pain rushed through every veins in his body.

The boy whose power was the core of his plan has gone.

The key that lead his plan to success has gone.

Over 90% of his plan which depended on the existence of the wielder of the Imagine Breaker has falling apart, away from his reach.

The despair, the hatred inside him, all the emotions that was once directed toward all the Magic Gods now arise, trying to rip apart the dark reality before him.

But…..

For some reasons, the Board Chairman suppressed it down.

He need to do something with this unwanted development.

He has to do something in order to continue on with the direction he walked for so long.

But…..

What can he do now?

The morning that boy was found dead, he didn't even aware that that boy was there and why he was there on that bench.

Even with Underline, he couldn't find out the cause of this madness.

Just why?

Why is the path before him crumbled?

….I have to find another way….

He need to keep going with his plan. The plan to make this world become a better place. A place that contained an answer not even god knew of, an answer he has seeking for so long.

Even if it took a few more decades, as long as what remains of his plan was still there, he could proceed it with more than a thousand of ways.

But…..

….but….

What else should he do next?

The boy and the power beyond the right hand has moved on, no more it lied in his grip.

…..what else can I do next to make this world a better place without that power?

…

…

…

…..nothing….

….

…

…..

….

….

On that day….

Everywhere she walked, she could always feel the chilling coldness of the splashing water hitting against her skin. Even if an umbrella was held tightly in her hand, she couldn't never dismiss the heavy feeling that suddenly hit her as she let all those small tears on top the pitch black sky press her shoulder down.

Every time she put a step forward, the sound of her soaked feet collided with the wet ground only made her emotion become duller like her "heart" was ripped apart piece by piece.

Whenever she moved her eyes away from the ground to take a small peek at the direction she was heading. Through the heavy rain, the girl often see it.

The sight of people moved past her with a troubled look on their face as they braced the umbrella hanging over their head, hoping to fully cover themselves from the raindrops.

The sight of students took shelter under the three or in some stores while looked up the sky and murmured why the rain is falling non-stop.

Most of the passers-by that she walked past all have this cheerless, slightly sad expression in their eyes. None of them were happy in this kind of weather.

She heard some of them talked about a shocking event that just occurred in district 7 a few days ago.

An event about an unfortunate boy who was found lying dead on a bench with fatal wounds and dry blood covered his entire body.

It was said that the person who first saw him in that state has been mentally scarred and unable to attend school ever since.

Anti-Skill, even Judgment, has been co-operating to investigate the reason behind that boy's death, but so far, they couldn't find any clues that linked to his heartbreaking predicament.

In the end…the case was closed, deemed as incomplete and forever shrouded in the dark mystery.

The tone of those who told others about this event carried a bit of sadness yet terrified. They all felt sorry for the fate of that boy and at the same time, they were scared of what had made him become like that.

Raindrops dripped down the girl's glasses and landed on the part of Kirigaoka uniform that covered her plentiful chest as she stood and let the story sunk in one more time.

She knew the person in that story, she knew the unfortunate boy whom they was talking about.

"….Kamijou-kun…."

Kazakiri Hyouka muttered the name of one of her very first friend in a trembling voice. The firm grip on her skirt tightened as she began to move toward a location.

Slowly, the pace increased.

….this isn't true, is it? Kamijou-kun?

As an artificial being created by a mass of AIM fields, Kazakiri has just manifested back onto the real world for a short period.

It was then that she overheard the story of an event happened a few days back.

It made her shock.

Kazakiri couldn't believe it to be real and now she wanted to see the truth with her own eyes. And by doing that, she headed straight to a cemetery located in district 10.

The only place where a funeral was held.

...

…

….

… _ **.Ks!**_

… _ **.KKskskss!**_

… _ **KKKkskksksksksKkkSksSSkSKKskksskskskskskskskSSssSKkKkskksksKKkKKKskkskskSKkkkrrrrrksrkrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!**_

 _..._

… _.._

 _Sometime ago….._

 _On a certain night…_

 _Kazakiri blinked as she found herself standing in front of a door that lead into the dorm room of the spiky haired boy._

 _The girl who was the conscious of various mixed AIM fields held up a hand to her chest and took a deep breath as if to gather courage, readying for an action which she was about to taken._

 _Pressing the doorbell._

 _The ringtone echoed through the long corridor. Kazakiri waited when she heard footsteps behind the door. Then it opened, revealing a familiar face._

" _Oh, Kazakiri."-came the surprised voice of Kamijou Touma as he saw the well-endowed girl."Good evening."_

" _Good evening, Kamijou-kun."-Kazakiri slightly bowed her head down with a tinge of pink slowly spread across her cheek."It's…..is it fine if I come here at this time?"_

" _Ah, Hyouka!"-a nun in white habit popped her head out from behind Kamijou and happily greeted the girl."Are you here to visit us?"_

" _I just happen to appear at this place, it was purely coincident."-Hyouka replied shyly with a smiled, somewhat feeling happy that this coincident has become a lucky moment for her."But yes, I want to visit you and Kamijou-kun, Index-chan."_

 _They both put on a bright smile after hearing it._

" _Then come on in."-Kamijou stepped aside to make way for the girl to come in."We are about to have dinner so you should join us too, Kazakiri."_

" _Dinner?"_

" _Yup, dinner. Made by the hand of your everyday misfortune magnet, Kamijou Touma."-Touma wiped his nose as he said that with full of confidence."When it's come to cooking skill, this Kamijou-san won't lose to anyone, even Saten-san and Maika…except Maria though, I'm not anywhere near her league."_

" _But Touma, aren't you always eat instant noodle? You're not going to let Hyouka eat those tasteless foods, aren't you?"-Index pulled his sleeve lightly._

 _That confident look on the boy's face slowly faded away as he turned to look at the nun while his arm crossed._

" _Tasteless? Is that what you really think, Index? After all the time I cooked breakfast, lunch, dinner and extra meal for you, you still won't acknowledge the ultimate convenience behind those cheap yet delicious fast food?"-with a chuckle he raised his fist and declared loudly."Instant noodle has always been my best companion at night. In other words, for someone who's financial is usually on edge like me, noodle is my savior, ours savior! A shining light in the darkness of starvation! That's why don't underestimate its taste, Index!"_

" _But Touma, I'm very depressed of it. You rarely make a proper meal for me nowadays."-the nun pout cutely._

" _Index, that's because I'm running short of money at the moment and please don't trample on this Kamijou-san's cool image in front of Kazakiri."-at one point, he glanced briefly at the cardboard box on top a nearby shelf where a calico cat was lying, carefully watching some movements inside that box."And talk about money, I'm sure you and Othinus know full well of what are the causes of the current state of my wallet."_

 _The nun flinched and looked sideway. On top the shelf, the cardboard box also jolted a bit. It seemed the spiky haired boy's words has struck right on the spot. As for Sphynx, who was digging his nail into a small gap on the box, stopped and let out a cute "nyan~" like it wanted to say "Well, I guess I'm off the hook since my meal didn't cost much. Oh, Miss Chibi~, come out here and play~."_

 _The box shook furiously and was pushed further away from the inside until it reached the edge of the top shelf. Needless to say, the former Magic God was struggling but no one seemed to pay their mind onto it._

 _Kazakiri remained quiet as she stood there and watched them, listening to the amusing conversation of her friends while a smile was formed on her lip._

 _Unlike that "realm" where everything was easily influenced and devoid of what was called liveliness, this sight was something that Kazakiri always want to see and cherish._

… _.._

…

… _.._

" _Alright, everyone."-said Kamijou as he stood before a floor table which Kazakiri and Index has already sat in. The small form of Othinus can be seen sitting on the table, sometime turned her head back to the calico cat with caution."Since Index can't put up with noodle anymore, I decided to change the menu. We will stop eating instant noodle starting from today."_

" _Really?!"-Index rose up her head in high spirit._

" _Good idea, human. It's about time you need to make change for our meal."-Othinus nodded thoughtfully."Eating the same food over and over would only make my delicate palate become less sensitive. So, what do we have for dinner's tonight?"_

 _Kazakiri looked up to the boy and she saw him smiling. One of his hands moved behind him to take something that was out of her view._

" _Today's dinner will be this!"_

 _With a clear voice, He raised his arm up and slam an object on the table. The sound of the impact flew away all the thoughts of the girls, their eyes slowly widened at the aliment that stood tall and mighty before them._

 _It was…._

 _It was….._

 _An Udon noodle cup._

" _Udon?"-Index stared at the cup in dumbfound._

" _Udon?"-Othinus had the look that like her expectation was being thrown out the window._

" _U…don?"-Kazakiri tilted her head in confusion, the term was familiar._

" _Nyan~."-meaning "It's my meal ready yet?", totally not relevant._

 _Kazakiri, Index and Othinus all turned their head to the spiky haired boy again. That grin on his face was still there, never faded and from the look of it there was more than only this cup. Before any words were spoken, Kamijou took out two boxes from behind him and gently placed it on the table._

" _And this, instant curry and miso soup."-he pointed up a finger and explained."I asked Maika to lend me some ingredients to make the soup since our fridge is kind of empty this time."_

 _Kazakiri gave him a slight nod, somewhat understanding the situation. However, Index and Othinus just stayed silent at his words and looked into each other eyes which made the boy blinked at them like they were doing a form of communication. The two then broke eyes contact and shifted their view back to Kamijou._

" _I see, so that's how it is, huh?"-Othinus said as she looked down, letting her witch-liked hat covered her face._

 _Kamijou raised an eyebrow at both of them. Suddenly, a cold chill ran down his spine when a black aura began to emanate from Index._

" _Heh? In…..Index? Why are you showing me your teeth?"_

" _Touma."-Index said his name in a haunting voice._

" _Y-yes, Index-san?"-The boy gulped and steadily backed away._

 _Kazakiri looked back and forth between the two with a question mark on her head._

 _In an instance, by a mysterious power Index launched herself across the table and knocked the boy down on the floor like a predator hunts its prey._

" _Ahhh! What the?!"-Kamijou caught her wrists and fearfully watched those bare, sharp teeth leaned closer to him."Index, calm down! What did I do?!"_

" _Touma! How could you lie to me?! It's still instant noodle all over again!"_

" _She's right, human! How dare you raise my expectation up and mercilessly trample on it!"-Othinus, who has already made her way next to his head, pulling his hair with all her might._

" _Since when did I do such a thing?! Ouch, ouch! Please, stop pulling my hair Othinus or this Kamijou-san will go bald for real at this rate! And Index, when I said we stop eating noodle, I meant the one we ate yesterday! Not every noodle have the same taste you know! Udon is a different type of it, it's cheap and I can guarantee it's good so please retract those teeth and let's have dinner in peaceeeeeee!"_

 _Despite the poor boy tried to reason, the nun and the former Magic God had no intention in stopping their assault on him. Touma paled as Index's teeth was getting closer and closer to his skin._

" _In-Index-chan, Othi-chan, please don't be harsh on Kamijou-kun!"-Kazakiri stood next to them and looked troubled as she tried to calm both girls down._

 _She did not dare to move close since Kamijou's right arm was waving frantically. But the gentle girl still tried her best to persuade them and help him._

 _Even so, Kamijou Touma could not escape from this deadly combo of the two freeloaders._

 _SNAP!_

 _Following next to the bite was a scream of the unlucky boy._

" _Such misfortuneeeeeeeee!"_

… _.._

…

…

" _This is….really good."-Hyouka commented at the delicious flavor in her mouth._

" _Hm, indeed."-Othinus nodded as she drank the miso soup in a small bowl that Kamijou has prepared especially for her."Such rich flavor."_

" _Touma, can I have another one?"-Index raised her hand, asking him in a happy manner._

" _Nyan~."-meaning "Ah~, my meal is tasty as always.", again not relevant._

 _Kamijou couldn't help but sweat dropped, his eyebrow twitched a bit making that bite mark on his head moved in a funny way._

" _Another? That's the second one you just ate, Index. Please restraint your appetite for my wallet."_

" _Touma, it is not good to use money as an excuse to avoid spreading your kindness to those who need help."-Index clasped her hands together and spoke in a soft tone, a shining aura appeared behind her."You should fulfill the wish of people around you in order to cleanse your sins."_

 _A vein popped out on the spiky haired boy's head._

" _What's with that speech pattern?! And what's happening with those sparkled special effect behind you?! Are you trying to make yourself look pure?! Look at my head, this is your bite mark! This poor Kamijou-san is clearly the victim!"_

 _Index fixed her gaze on him, her green eyes glittering with full of hope. Knowing how highly demand Index was when it comes to food, Kamijou just let out a sigh and gave up._

" _Alright, no need to look at me like that."-Kamijou placed in front of Index another cup and put on a thin smile."Here, this is the last one so eat it to your heart content."_

" _Yay~!"_

 _In joy, Index continued to satisfy her bottomless stomach while the spiky haired boy scratched his head and went back to his meal. Watching the two from aside, Kazakiri giggled quietly._

 _There it was, this warm feeling inside her chest every time she spent the moment with Index and him. The moment when they all sat into one table and had a meal together._

… _.so this is also what friend often does, doesn't it?_

 _This was a very rare occasion for the girl who was the conscious form of mixed AIM fields._

 _Truly a heart-warming illusion that she will always cherish and remember._

" _Kazakiri."_

" _H-heh?"-Hyouka jolted a bit at Kamijou's sudden voice._

" _You're fading!"_

 _Kazakiri widened her eyes as she looked down at herself. True to his words, she was fading, moving back to the "realm" where she was originally from._

… _...I guess it's time._

 _The girl raised her head up to say goodbye to her friends. But as she did so, sadness was the first thing that came to her._

 _No one was there, they have gone._

 _Kazakiri smiled a bitter smile as she finally realized it. She has gone back to that realm once again, the world where all the sense of existence was twisted, the City of Shimmers._

 _Hyouka looked around, the udon cups that she placed on the table became blurry as it was blown away by a thin wind. Her eyes stopped on the two empty spots where the spiky haired boy and that nun perhaps were still sitting on in the real world._

… _.I really can't be with them longer, can I?_

 _Although feeling regretful for not being able to say goodbye to them properly, Kazakiri knew that there was nothing she could do with the way things are._

 _This was how it worked, the nature of her existence._

 _Those moments of Kazakiri in the real Academy city has never been long._

 _Like a dream, it often starts and ends while being in the middle of things._

 _But this time was a little different….._

 _A proper "beginning" has been created when Kazakiri Hyouka decided to manifest into the real world on this night._

 _The moment when she pressed the doorbell of Kamijou's residence, that dream has already begun right at the starting line._

 _Yet, sadly, it didn't reach the "ending"…yet._

 _Before this, Kazakiri has had a clear intention in her mind. To make it clearer, visiting Index was not the only reason why she was there in the first place._

 _Occasionally, Kazakiri and the nun could meet each other from time to time during the day. Despite the condition of her existence between the two realms, it was still simple enough to be with Index and engage into those activities that friends would do together._

 _So "visit" was also not the correct word to describe her intention either._

 _Besides from the nun, Hyouka came here because she wanted to see the other person, the one who had helped her a lot and made her realized how important she is to the nun in white habit, how warm this life, this illusion is when there are people who see her as a "human" and a friend._

 _But unlike Index, that person was different. It was hard to find an appropriate way to approach him._

 _Sometime, she tried to find him but that boy wasn't anywhere in sight. Sometime, she tried to talk to him but there was always an unexpected factor cut in between them._

 _For example, one time she found him standing on a footbridge alone, Kazakiri went to greet him but was interrupted when a loud voice called out his name. Then came a mysterious green beam of light shot past him from out of nowhere. The boy ran away right after that and from the other realm, she saw a girl with soft-tea color hair chased after him, demanding something that she couldn't make it clear at the time, however that girl seemed excited for some reasons. There was also a blurry shadow of a blonde haired boy followed from behind her, yelling in exhaustion. In the end, that spiky haired boy has long gone from her sight._

 _For another example, one time she found him walking toward an old apartment building with a school bag hanging over his shoulder. Before Kazakiri could even manifest into the real world to call him, a dark red haired girl suddenly appeared above the boy and landed on him by accident. Then a small child rushed out from the building to help them stand up. Some words were spoken and that boy walked back into that apartment along with them. In the end, Kazakiri didn't have a chance to talk to him._

 _Right now, even though she has taken the initiative to meet him, the nature of her very existence still stands in her way._

 _And…._

 _And….._

 _A tinge of red slowly rose on Hyouka's cheek as she looked at the spot where Kamijou Touma sat in the real world._

 _And despite all of that, this unspoken feeling inside her just kept growing._

 _Hyouka stood up and left the room, the door flicked and vanished as she walked through it. Outside the corridor, Kazakiri turned to take another glance at that spot again._

… _maybe…next time, I'll try again._

 _As the girl took a step forward, the wavy-like wave came from her feet disappeared midway and the gray distorted-like atmosphere vanished, replacing by a transparent moon light. Kazakiri widened her eyes at the sudden change of her surroundings._

 _Somehow, she has manifested back into the real world._

" _Kazakiri?"_

 _Hyouka let out a light jolt before turning her head to look at the source of the voice._

 _The girl was caught by surprise as the owner of that voice was the spiky haired boy._

 _Kamijou Touma was leaning against the rail as he looked at the dark brown haired girl with a questioning look. A small notebook could be seen holding in his hands, he was writing something._

" _Ka-Kamijou-kun?"_

 _The spiky haired boy quickly closed the note and put it away, walking up to Hyouka. He seemed relieve to see her._

" _I'm glad you're still here, Index was worried when you suddenly vanished in the middle of dinner like that. Is there something wrong?"_

" _N-no, there's nothing wrong. It just happens sometime when I stay in this realm for too long."_

"… _."_

" _I'm an artificial being, you know. An unstable gathering of various AIM fields from many espers in this city."-hearing no respond from the boy, Kazakiri nervously held up both hands to ease him, an act that seemingly out of reflex."D-don't worry Kamijou-kun, I'm always here, it's not like I would disappear."_

"…"

 _A moment of silence came as there was still no reply from Kamijou. Kazakiri lowered her hands and looked sideway, having nothing came up to hold the conversation._

 _There was actually one though, but the dark brown haired girl didn't know how to put it._

 _This unspoken feeling within her._

" _Kazakiri, is there something in your mind that you want to tell Index and me?"_

" _Heh?"-Kazakiri stared at him with widened eyes._

… _.he knew?_

" _Well, how do I put this?"-Kamijou scratched his head, looking anywhere but her like he was trying to think of an explanation."When you said to us that you came here to visit Index, I just got the feeling that you're wanting to tell us something. Though I'm not sure what it is but I figure it must be important."_

 _Touma looked directly into Kazakiri's eyes, his image was clearly reflected on her big round glasses._

" _Because….If I'm not wrong, this is the first time you ever come here at this hour."_

 _He was right. It was the first time she came here in the evening._

… _.This is the first time I did this…but…it's all because…_

 _A faint blush once again colored her cheeks._

… _..I want to see you…_

 _The unspoken feeling began to rise in her._

" _Kamijou-kun, I never tell you this before but…"-Kazakiri spoke as she smiled, a warm smile."Thank you for showing me this warm illusion."_

"… _?"_

" _It's thanks to you and Index-chan that I was able to experience this life. Even now, I still feel a bit uneasy toward my existence but because of you two, little by little, I feel less bothered by it."_

"…"

" _Despite knowing I'm an artificial angel, you still see me as a normal human and befriend me, so….thank you, Kamijou-kun, being together with you and Index-chan…I….I'm really happy…"-Kazakiri put a hand to her chest, feeling like this unspoken emotion inside her will burst if she let it unvoiced any longer."….I'm happy…that I can share this warm and precious illusion with you."_

 _Kazakiri covered her face as she could feel her cheek starting to burn hot by her own words._

… _I said it…..although that is not everything but…I said it._

 _There was more to that feeling than she could express but as for now, that was everything Kazakiri could muster. Being overwhelmed by a feeling of embarrassment, the dark brown haired girl couldn't help but stood there in silence. Those words that were spoke earlier seemed to have used all of her courage._

"… _..illusion, huh."_

 _Hearing Touma's whisper-like voice, Kazakiri lowered both hands and look at the spiky haired boy. In a short moment, she saw a strange glint in his eyes as he stared at the opened palm of his right hand._

" _Say, Kazakiri…"_

"… _.?"_

" _Before…back on the day when Index and I first met you, you also said something similar to this."-the boy placed a hand to his chin, thinking about the event that happened on that particular day."The warm illusion that connects you and Index and makes ours relationships become what it are now is what you will always cherish."_

 _Kazakiri nodded at him and the spiky haired boy continued._

" _Index said the same thing to me, too. She even told me that she will try her best to protect it together with you."_

 _A thin smile formed on Hyouka's lip, knowing the fact that her very first friend also felt the same way as her._

" _But….."_

"… _.?"_

" _With everything that have happened so far, I guess you don't need to think of it as an illusion anymore."_

" _What….?"-Hyouka widened her eyes at the boy, that smile on her face faded away._

" _Because right now…."-he smiled."…..that illusion of yours has become reality, don't you think?"_

"… _..!"_

" _Your relationship with Index can't no longer be described by the standard meaning of the word friend, it changed."_

 _Indeed, it has changed. That nun in white habit was her best friend, the most important friend._

" _Index is your best friend. Recently, Othinus also becomes your friend and Sphynx, too. That cat may not show it but he seems to grow a bit more attached to you."_

 _And it also applied to him._ He was her best friend, he was someone who is really important to her just like the young nun.

" _This is your reality now so you don't need to call it an illusion anymore, Kazakiri."_

… _.eh?_

 _But he didn't say it, why was that?_

… _.Kamijou-kun….._

" _And…"-the boy paused for a short moment, looking at his right hand again."…about your existence…"_

 _To the girl's surprise, Kamijou put another step toward her which making the girl placed a step back instinctively as the right hand was an arm's length away from her. Soon the distance was reduced to merely a few inches, the two looked into each other eyes at the space where one could almost feel a faint breath coming from the others._

 _At some point Kazakiri could feel her body trembling slightly as the right hand was extremely close to her, and at the same time, her embarrassing gauge also on the verge of going off the chart._

… _.s-s-so close! W-why is he…?_

 _Before Kazakiri's mentality could keep up with the strange circumstance, what happened next was totally unpredictable._

 _Kamijou moved his right hand to behind him, creating a safe distance for Hyouka from the Imagine Breaker while unexpectedly stretched out the other hand toward her. He placed it behind her head and gently pushed her close to him._

 _What the spiky haired boy did was not an embrace nor a hug, he just simply pulled the dark brown haired girl closer to him. Kazakiri was stunned as her forehead touched the boy's shoulder._

 _That unspoken feeling rose again._

" _Ka-Kamijou-kun?!"_

" _Kazakiri, on that same day, at the hospital, you also told Index this once."-there was a small struggle but it stopped as the spiky haired boy spoke in a soft tone."You are someone that cannot be seen, someone that cannot be touched, and someone that nobody can't feel you even if you're right by their side."_

 _The girl widened her eyes slightly at the words. He was there, listening to the talk between her and the young nun before they parted away._

" _That's just wrong, you know."_

 _Kazakiri looked up to him with pure surprise._

" _It's true that you always come and go, vanish into the thin air like a phantom. But that doesn't mean your existence is something that completely invisible. You maybe exist between two worlds, you maybe still feel uneasy toward that very existence of yours."_

"… _."_

" _But right now, you feel it too, don't you? As we stand like this I can clearly see you, I can touch you, I can even feel how soft your hair is and you're just right beside me."_

 _The girl tugged the chest part of his shirt in silence and fully leaned to him. Kazakiri didn't respond, instead the dark brown haired girl just gave him a light nodded. That boy was right, she could feel it, too._

… _.Kamijou-kun's shoulder is…so warm._

 _Kazakiri earned a blush thanks to that thought._

" _It may still be old-fashioned, but I'll say it as many time as you want to hear it. Artificial or not, angel or not, an unstable entity or not, you're human, Kazakiri."_

 _Kamijou let go his left hand from Hyouka and stared directly at her as she lifted her head up._

" _And you have us, Index, Othinus, Sphynx and me. If you've ever felt something like that toward yourself again, talk to us, talk to Index, talk to me, let everything out and I will shatter whatever illusions that make you think that way."_

"… _!"_

" _We're your best friends so…"-he smiled thinly."_ _ **Don't let your feelings be unvoiced**_ _, Kazakiri."_

 _Hyouka was astonished, the blush on her face spread. She felt like "something" was throbbing furiously inside her chest as if the unspoken feeling was desperately trying to breakout._

 _Those words that he spoke, the damage was too much._

" _Kamijou-kun….."-Hyouka spoke in a tender voice._

"… _.?"-the spiky haired boy raised his eyebrow at her._

" _Kamijou-kun…I….I…"_

 _The dark brown haired girl stopped, shaking as she realized what she was about to say. Hyouka averted her eyes away from the boy and looked down, both her cheeks were burning hot._

… _..wh….w-w-what was I trying to say?! You can't, Hyouka! You can't! Restraint it! It's so embarrassing!_

"… _um….Kazakiri?"-Kamijou called her while scratching his head, seemingly had no idea what she was doing."What were you trying to tell me?"_

 _Kazakiri flinched and shook her head. Once again, she looked up to him._

"… _..I….Kamijou-kun…I….."_

"… _.."_

"… _."_

 _She couldn't say it….._

 _A moment of silence and awkward hit the two. Kazakiri started wanting to disappear into the other realm, her face was still red yet she couldn't make this feeling die down. It was difficult to handle._

" _Ah, I forgot."-the spiky haired boy said, turning around as he recalled something._

"… _..?"_

" _I left your unfinished udon cup in the kitchen, it hasn't been long so it's still warm, let me go get it to you."_

 _Kamijou went back to his dorm room and opened the door. But for some reasons, he slam it back with a loud bang which startled Kazakiri, making the girl blinked at him with a big question mark on her head._

 _The spiky haired boy gulped and turned his head to Kazakiri. From what the dark brown haired girl could see, Touma sweated heavily and his expression was somewhat paled. He reached to the doorknob and turned, slowly opened the door again and took a peek through the gap._

 _A thick dark aura emerged on the other side of the door pushed it wide open caused Kamijou to stumbl back in panic. Inside the room stood the figure of a nun in white habit with her bare teeth showing reflecting the shining light of the moon, on top her head stood the small form of Othinus._

 _The two were emitting a killing intent, giving the spiky haired boy another cold chill ran down his spine._

"… _.um…Index-san, Othinus, w-why are you two look so angry?"_

" _Toumaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa."-Index responded in a haunting voice."Just when I laid my eyes off you, you've already out here hugging Hyouka, what are you intending to do with my friend?! Have you finally give in to your sinful desire?!"_

 _Kazakiri reddened at the nun's words._

" _Human, do you have anything else to say before I give you divine punishment?"-Othinus spoke in an equal scary tone as the nun."Surely you're not going to say something like it was an accident or an out of character moment, are you?"_

 _They had overheard it and saw it all._

" _N-no, wait, Othinus, Index, I don't know what sinful desire you are talking about but it's not what you think, I didn't hug Kazakiri. This Kamijou-san was just trying to show to her that how real she is to us and herself."_

" _By pulling Hyouka to you, Touma?"_

"… _.ah…."-the boy was speechless._

 _The black aura intensified as the nun took a step forward._

" _Wait, wait! Index, like I said, this Kamijou-san was just trying to help our friend to get over an issue. Anyhow, everything is fine now so….."-he scratched the back of his head and smiled awkwardly."Othinus, please deactivate your S mode and stop staring dagger at me. And Index, can you please retract your teeth and let me go get that udon cup for Kazakiri?"_

 _The instance he asked that, his fate was sealed by an all-out assault._

" _Ahhhhhhh! Such misfortuneeeeeeee!"_

 _Realizing that the boy needs help, Kazakiri hurriedly moved to the three in hope that she could persuade them to let the spiky haired boy go. But before the girl could let out her voice, the surrounding flicked._

 _It's starting again._

 _Slowly, her body began to fade._

… _...ah…..…._

 _Hyouka looked down at the ground sadly then shifted her eyes to her friends. Anime tears was streaming down on the poor spiky haired boy's face as Index gave him the best of her ultimate bite while Othinus used the same old tactic, yanking his hair._

 _They all didn't seem to notice her current state._

 _If she was to vanish without saying anything, those three wouldn't have known._

… _ **don't let your feelings be unvoiced, Kazakiri….**_

 _Don't let it be unvoiced, he said._

… _.even if you told me that, this feeling isn't something I could express so easily, Kamijou-kun._

" _Kamijou-kun, Index-chan, Othi-chan."_

 _Hearing the girl called out, they all stopped and looked toward Kazakiri with an eyebrow raising. Index's teeth was still digging into that boy's head though._

" _Thank you for the dinner, it was a very fun time for me."_

" _Hyouka, you're going back?"-asked the nun in surprise when she saw Kazakiri's figure started fading._

" _Yes, it's time I return to that place."-Kazakiri replied with a smile."I'll see you again next time."_

 _Index nodded happily and Othinus simply gave her a small wave with a calm expression. It was then, the dark brown haired girl turned her eyes to the spiky haired boy. A tinge of pink was visible on her cheeks._

" _Kamijou-kun, at the moment, I don't think I have enough the courage to express it so soon."_

"… _.."_

" _But….someday, I…"_

 _The scene before her eyes vanished and replaced by a gray distorted, wavy environment._

 _Those three was no longer there._

 _Kazakiri Hyouka knew that boy probably couldn't hear the last part of her words._

 _Yet, that smile of her never faded._

" _Someday, I will tell you about it, my unvoiced feelings."_

…..

... _ **KskskskkrskrrkrrkkskKSksrkkkkrKRRKskrSKkskrkkrkskksrrkrkksrkrrrrrrr!**_

… _ **Kkkskrksrkrrr!**_

….. _ **ks….!**_

….

…

Water splash everywhere as the girl went past.

Kazakiri stopped dead in track when the first tombstone entered her view. She has reached the cemetery in district 10.

Before her was a long, straight path that lead into a vast opened field filled with many graves and memorial stones. Kazakiri felt nervous, even trembling slightly as she looked around the place where those who was once living a life in this city of science lied.

But what made her anxious the most was the sight of a large group of people gathering at the central of the field that was further away from where she stood.

….this can't be true.

Kazakiri told herself that and began walking toward the group, slowly by each steps. As she went near, one of the people from the group suddenly turned around and ran from there, both hands held up to their face. Kazakiri's eyes widened in shock when she saw the look of that person who ran past her.

It was a girl, her chocolate-colored hair was long and fluffy like a cotton candy itself.

She was crying, looking so desperate when she covered her face and helplessly let out all the tears.

Hyouka watched as that girl kept going, running away from this vast yard.

She watched until that girl was no longer in her sight.

…..what….?

The dark brown haired girl tilted her head back to the crowd which was only more than a few meters away. Each and every single one of them stood there silently, uncaring if they were getting soaked by the rain or not.

A few umbrellas was raised above their heads, but it didn't seem to make any difference.

Kazakiri took a few steps forward, the sobbing noises among them rang in her ears. It was at this moment that fear began to rush through her.

In the mix of various tears drop on top the black sky and the crowd, there, lied a coffin.

Hyouka trembled as the paled face of Kamijou Touma embed deep into her very eyes.

…no…..this…this can't be…

Hyouka tried to come closer in hope that her eyes won't deceive her.

….Kamijou-kun…

But she couldn't, her shaking leg won't lift up.

It was real, it felt so real that Hyouka could feel tears started swelling up in her eyes.

She wanted to deny this, but it was useless.

This is the reality.

A breaking sound of a dry branch suddenly echoed which startling her.

It came from a boy with brown hair who was standing under a nearby three. A hand was placing on his neck as he gently swung his head from side to side. An umbrella was held in his other hand but most parts of his uniform which consisted of a blue jacket and grey trousers were all wet.

That boy tried another attempt to crack his neck but nothing came, he frowned and lowered his arm. For a moment, he stared at the funeral with a look that can hardly be described.

Why did he stand there alone, distancing himself from the crowd?

Was he sad?

Was he feel pity for the unfortunate fate of that spiky haired boy?

No one knows…..

The brown haired boy shook his head and left the dry spot under the three. As he walked the opposite direction, his eyes met with Kazakiri's big glasses.

She flinched as he stopped and looked at her.

"Are you a friend of him?"-asked the boy in a soft tone.

"…"

"If you are, you should go there and say farewell to him, everyone in the funeral is doing the same thing."-he paused for a second and glanced to them over his shoulder."This will be the last time you see his face."

Something felt like falling apart inside Kazakiri as those words reached her.

Noticing the expression on her face, the brown haired boy didn't say anything else and he just stood there in silence.

Then…..

"Here, take this."-the boy extended his hand which holding the umbrella toward her."You might need this old umbrella more than I do, it's not good to be soaked in this kind of weather."

Despite he said that, he has already raised the umbrella above her head, covered her from the heavy drops rapidly felt down from the heaven. It was him that fully exposed to the rain this time.

Kazakiri weakly moved her hand and reached to it, her gaze still locked on the wet ground.

The boy turned his head around to take a one last look at the coffin where the spiky haired boy lied.

Without a word, **Kamisato Kakeru** closed his eyes and walked away, eventually disappeared into the heavy rain.

Kazakiri stood there alone, with an umbrella covering herself from the rain, a small drop still made it way to the place around her feet.

Tears started streaming down her cheeks.

…..the last time….

… _ **.don't let your feelings be unvoiced, Kazakiri…**_

…..this…is too much….

It was so painful to bear.

… _ **..someday, I will tell you about it, my unvoiced feeling…..**_

…Kamijou-kun…

Kazakiri slowly lifted her head up to look at the coffin of the boy.

Then, something that she never wished to come unexpectedly happened.

Hyouka widened her eyes in horror as the world around her flicked.

…no…..no…

The rain began drifting away from her.

…..please….not now..….

Hyouka ran toward the crowd, she must make it to him before it's too late.

…...I need to…I need to see him one last time.

A gray color started appearing in her vision.

…I have yet to tell him…..about these feeling that I couldn't express.

A wavy-like wave emitted from her steps.

Hyouka reached out her hand toward the spiky hair boy as she ran past the last person in the group. The whole view of his paled face reflected in her eyes.

She has almost reached him.

"Kamijou-kun…..I…."

But…

The moment she came near him….

The coffin….along with Kamijou Touma…disintegrated into thin air….

…

At the farthest line in the group of people who attended the funeral, a person looked behind them as they heard something hitting the wet ground.

Over there, they saw an opened umbrella laid on the ground.

And the person who held it was nowhere to be seen.

…

Kazakiri stared into the distance in a mix of shock and horror. Her existence has returned to this place once again, the City of Shimmers.

"…."

It was too late.

Hopelessly, Hyouka fell down on her knees.

….why…..?

The girl let out a light snort, tears never stopped to glide down from her eyes.

Those trembling hands held up to her face as she cried.

…..I could have…. at least say farewell to him ….

The unspoken feeling that she wanted to express to that boy, the emotion that someday she would tell him was screaming painfully within her.

…I could have…told him…...about my feeling...

It was meant to reach him someday.

"…Kamij-..…..Touma….I…like…..you…."-Kazakiri sobbed, revealed her unspoken feeling in despair as she called his name.

But now…..

No one was there…

No one was listening….

That boy has gone.

Even if she was able to say it out, if that boy wasn't around anymore, it would mean nothing.

It remained as a deep feeling that will never be spoke of.

An unvoiced feeling.


	4. Chapter 3: A-Painful-Reality

**Hi everyone, I'm finally back with the new chapter. Sorry if this took so long, I've been busy with school works so I didn't have much time to properly write the story. For now, the only pace I can manage to update is one chapter per month or 2 chapters per month if things go smoothly. Hence, not to mention my other story hasn't had a new update for a long time (check it out if you want, you might find something interesting).  
**

 **Anyway, to answer to reviewers' questions:**

 **MrQuestionMark: Thank you for the review, I'm really happy to know this story got the attention of one of the best** **authors in** **ToAru fanfiction section. Before the plot of this story was put into work, I planned to make Aleister's reaction to Touma's predicarment a little different than what I had written in the previous chapter. The man has eyes and ears in every corner of the world so I figure his wrath wouldn't be that much. BUT, since I decided to let this story took place in an alternative universe, I think things will be a lot more interesting. Because you never know what kind of unexpected factors those universe will contain. And that is also one of the reasons why this fic has a mystery genre. Well, hope to see your review for this chapter soon.  
**

 **AxelLord20: Of course, Saten will have a chapter of her own with her reaction to the spiky haired boy's predicarment. Since this story progress base on the characters' reactions (sometime) and plot events, her moment could come sooner or later.**

 **ShadowDeath01: Well...I can't do that, sorry. Like I said above with AxelLord20, the story will progress base on the characters' reactions and plot events so doing that might spoil the surprise.**

 **Anon, Guest, Geust's Account: Hm, hm, suggestion...APPROVED! Actually, I've already planned it out when I started to think of the plot for this story from beginning to the end. The interaction between Shokuhou, Mitsuari and Kumokawa is quite interesting to be honest. Sooner or later, those moments will come.**

 **Agent Nine: There will be more, but eventually the plot will move so those emotion will pass. Alright, well that said, brace yourself for this chapter.**

 **Kuroppy: Don't worry, your tears shall not be wasted.**

 **That's all, enjoy the story.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own To Aru Majutsu no Index.**

* * *

Several knocks echoed along a hallway where high class furniture was decorated on the wall. The blackness of the sky that lingered around the sight was wiped off when a few expensive lights hanging on top the ceiling were flicked on.

A group of girls gathered in front of a wooden door. They were the young ladies of the prestigious Tokiwadai Middle School.

Worry and nervous were the only two expressions appeared the clearest on their face as there was no respond from the other side of the door. After a moment of silence, one of the girls stepped out of the group and knocked on the door again.

"Queen."-the ringlet curl girl called out to the leader of their group in a soft tone.

Silence filled the hallway once more as no voice came out.

"My Queen."-the purple haired girl raised her hand up, intending to give another knocking on the wooden barrier but stopped halfway as the girl thought it would be enough to have the Queen's attention. She hoped so."You haven't come to class since yesterday, are you feeling unwell?"

"….."-no respond.

The members of the largest clique in Tokiwadai looked at each other with anxiety began to resurfaced next in their eyes. And it increased even more when outside the window, a bright thunder struck down in midair with a loud noise caused them to startle.

The atmosphere around the hallway become heavier.

Quickly diverting their mind from the current weather, the girls focused their attention on the person inside the room before them. Worrying about the Queen's well-being, the ringlet curl girl spoke again with her voice raising up a bit.

"Please tell us if you are troubled by anything, we would like to help…."-she trailed off, blinking as something came to her ears.

The girl turned her head to look back at the clique.

No words were spoken from the group of the young ojous. They were looking at her, eyes filled with the same curiousness since they could hear it, too.

It was a faint sobbing voice of someone who was holding the tears in but could not.

….this voice….

Realizing where it came from, the ringlet curl girl pressed her ears against the door and some of the girls also did the same as they hurriedly took the space on both sides of her.

Then, they heard it, that small voice from behind the wooden door was as clear as the sound of millions of waterdrops splattered outside the dorm.

"The Queen….is crying…"-one of the clique's members who stood next to the ringlet curl girl voiced out her thought.

Everyone's eyes widened in shock by the word of the girl with black twin tails. Whispers and comments broke among the girls.

"Oh my….."

"I hope the Queen is okay."

The drill hair girl watched the group for a short moment before turning her eyes back to the door. Bewilderment never cease to leave her facial expression after hearing it.

It made her stunned to know the person whom she followed in each steps every day and the elegant, ideal figure of every girls in the clique was on the verge of tear.

Why was the Queen of Tokiwadai in such a state?

Did something terrible just happen to her that they didn't aware of it?

While letting those questions filled her mind, a thought struck the young student as she recalled something. During the last few days, there was…an event that was widely spread across Academy City.

"….could it be….."-said the girl to no one, the hand she placed on her chest tightened.

She didn't say the last part of what was in her mind. In fact, the drill hair girl found herself hesitated to say it.

It was something that at the moment, no one in here was ready to fully accept it.

It happened so suddenly that it was difficult to believe such an event would ever occur.

Even for the members of the largest clique in Tokiwadai, it was hurtful to think about it.

The word about the sad predicament of a high school boy.

"I wonder if…"-one timid voice spoke up from the group."…if the Queen is shedding tear because of what happened….to that gentleman."

All eyes directed toward another ojou in the group once her words were let out.

The mentioning of that gentleman made the voices died down and filled the hallway with silence.

None of the young ladies could think of what to say to this since they knew it perhaps was the only appropriate explanation for this circumstance.

That gentleman…..that high school boy….they had met him.

Not long ago, during the time when there was a small yet eventful festival that held by both the Tokiwadai Middle School and A Certain High School, they had made acquaintance with that boy and talked to him. Eventually, they came to know the connection between him and the Queen of Tokiwadai.

The meeting didn't last very long and it didn't hold any special meaning either. One could say that it was purely coincident.

At the beginning, they simply viewed him as someone close to an acquaintance.

But after an unexpected event happened on that particular day, those middle school girls's very first impression of him has changed, then came along with this….unexplainable emotions rose within them.

It wasn't an affection, those young girls thought so.

Some of them believed it was respect or admiration…or something that different than both.

No matter how they looked at it, the girls realized the way they saw him was different than the way they saw toward the Queen.

Despite knowing he was just an ordinary commoner, they still held a strong opinion of that gentleman.

Which was why…..

To them, it felt sad whenever those words about him came around, sinking into their minds.

Now, the depression only got deepened by a crying voice of the young girl, whom they looked up to, on the other side of this door.

"That gentleman, why did something so tragic like this happen to him?"-one girl in the group asked despite knowing that there won't be any answer, her small voice slightly shook as tears formed in her eyes."Those words he spoke to the Queen in that play had brought a happy ending to a tragedy drama. Why can't that apply to him in real life as well?"

They believed that sometime life is like those in the fairy tales or romantic. To some extent, the relationship of that gentleman and their Queen was similar to one.

But sometime, life it's also the opposite of what they believed.

The "sad end" of that boy has made them aware of that.

How different and unkind a life can offer to one person.

Truly a sad fate.

A fate that it's hard to accept.

"At the moment, his funeral is happening and it will be the last time for us…for the Queen to see his face."-some sniffing sounds was heard as the girl continued."Yet…and yet, the clique, none of us, even the Queen, could bring ourselves to go there to see that gentleman…...and the Queen is crying…all of this, everything…it's so sudden…it's too much to accept this is real."

Some members of the clique began to depart from the group, perhaps knowing that there was nothing they could do beside from embracing this cruel fact just like the others.

Noticing her vision has become blurry while she watched the rest of the clique left the hallway, the ringlet curl girl rubbed her eyes gently and glanced back at the door behind her.

The faint sobbing voice from behind the wooden door kept hitting her ears.

….my Queen…

She turned and extended her hand toward the door. She didn't knock, instead she just placed her hand on the wooden object.

"Queen, if there is something I can do for you…..please let me know."-the purple haired girl said softly.

Having no respond, the girl stood in front of the wooden door for a few more minutes before turning away and leave her Queen in peace.

Silently took out a handkerchief to wipe off the tears in her eyes, the young lady with a naïve heart hoped.

…..if miracle do exist….please….

If such a supernatural phenomenon can occur in this world, in this city of science, she wished it would dispel this dark mood and bring comfort to those who fell into distress.

No one can't be sure how much things will change after this.

But hopefully, it will take a better turn and everyone will feel better when these sad moments passed.

….

The sound of footsteps echoing outside the corridor went smaller and smaller until it completely gone. Only the tapping noise of teardrops that fell down from the heaven remained, dominating the sorrowful cry behind the brown wooden door.

Inside, as the curtain was closed and lights has been turned off, the entire place was covered in total cold darkness. On the left side of the spacious room, a large-size bed was neatly placed in the corner next to a small table, where several remote controls scattered around along with a shoulder bag which has a golden star adorned in the middle and a small silver whistle.

On top the bed, laid a young girl. Her long, straight golden haired spread on the silky yellow pattern sheet while she rested her head on a pillow.

Shokuhou Misaki was crying, the small crystal beads never stopped to trail down from her starry eyes. Her body slightly shook as she let out a sob.

The sob was weakly stifled like a thin wall that slowly crumble and break apart by a raging storm. The honey blonde haired girl was desperately trying to hold back the tears but could not.

She couldn't do anything but to cry as a wave of emotion engulfed her mind.

The sorrow, the sadness, it strangled her.

Shokuhou clutched her chest tightly as she could feel the sore, tingling pain made itself known inside her. It made her hard to breath.

In one of her white glove hands was a photo sticker.

It showed the image of Shokuhou making a cute pose with v-shape fingers horizontally placed near her starry eyes. Beside her was the familiar black spiky haired boy, whom she wrapped herself around his arm.

That boy….

The boy who had brought happiness to her life.

The boy who somehow had overturned the expectations created by the adults and remembered her.

He was there.

He was standing next to her, smiling a bit forceful and nervous like he couldn't think of a pose to do as the camera took the shot.

The two fit nicely in the center of the small picture.

It was a happy moment that it all seemed like it just took place on yesterday morning.

"…Touma…."-her lip moved, trembling, softly whispering the last name of the black spiky haired boy.

But that was all.

That moment, the time he spent with her now remained as nothing but a sad memory.

"…why…"

On the day when his body was sent to the hospital, Shokuhou, along with the Railgun and some others, had watched the frog faced doctor trying to revive the unbeating heart of the spiky haired boy through the thick glass of the emergency room.

With the advance medical technology of this city, Shokuhou believed there might be a chance to save him.

Unfortunately, that chance has never presented itself. There was no change in Kamijou's heartbeat.

Shokuhou had almost fainted when the frog-face doctor took off his scrub and left.

In the end, the honey blonde haired girl couldn't bring herself to go to his funeral as the sight of Kamijou's wounded body has left a deep scar in her mind.

The girl who was known as the strongest telepath esper, Mental Out, felt her mentality would have a breakdown at any moment if she was to go there.

She didn't want to deny the truth but she couldn't bear with it either.

It was so painful, so abruptly to know this was the last time she will see of him.

Shokuhou felt helpless as all she could do was to stand there and watch the doctors carry the lifeless body of that boy away.

She was the fifth ranked level 5, one of the strongest espers in the city, and yet she couldn't do anything.

That boy who once stood next to her in that small photo, the one person whom she in love with has….moved on.

The depressing Queen held the picture close to her chest, letting her tears stained the pillow as she pressed her face against it.

"…...you remembered me…."

Through the overwhelming desire to cry, the honey blonde haired girl whimpered.

"…you…..call my name…every time….we meet…."

Each words were slowly spoke, strained, struggled and filled with full of sadness.

"…..….…Touma….why…."

Shokuhou then helplessly sobbed in distress.

Inside the golden star bag, a phone suddenly let out its ringtone, giving the alarm of a receiving call.

On the bright touchscreen that lightened the inside of the bag, the caller ID and the serial number flashed through the screen.

Someone she knew so well was calling.

However, it just kept ringing and eventually stopped after a moment passed.

Shokuhou didn't answer the call, she wasn't in the mood to listen or to talk to anyone.

Right now, she just wanted to let out all the tears and try to embrace, to accept this reality alone in the dark room.

A painful reality…where…..

That spiky haired boy is no longer there…by her side…

…

…

…

Raising her head up, the young girl watched as the person sitting in front of her began to move from their spot and went past a large group of people before them, going to the farthest place behind those umbrellas that raised above their head.

The young girl's long brown chestnut hair briefly stuttered as a she clumsily lowered her own umbrella to cover her face from the sudden chilling cold breeze.

She was someone upon taking a brief glance at, people might often mistake her for one of the strongest espers in the Academy city due to having the same appearance. However, other than the face identical to her sisters, the long hair reached down to her hip was probably the most prominent feature that distinguished herself from them.

 **Dolly** was her name.

Blinking for a short while after the breeze passed, the girl who was once a prototype clone used for many experiments shifted her downcast gaze back to the wet ground.

The girl didn't avert her vision to nowhere until her attention was drawn by a small sigh from another girl next to her. That girl was roughly her age, her long purple colored hair that went past her waist was neatly tied up.

The brown chestnut haired girl turned her head to look at the smart phone holding in that girl's hand. With no one answering the call, she put it away and weakly shook her head as she moved her eyes to Dolly.

"Misaki-chan didn't pick up the call."- **Kouzaku Mitori** spoke in a soft tone. She, too, has the same cheerless expression just like her friend.

Dolly widened her eyes in shock, but slowly softened.

"Then…..."-the girl muttered quietly."Does that means Misaki-chan won't be here with us to say farewell to Kamijou-san?"

"It seems so, this whole incident must has been a huge shock to her."

"I see."

"…"

"…"

For a moment, the two girls fell into silence and the conversation stopped. No more word needed to be put in for what was happening in front of their very eyes.

It wasn't hard to guess why their friend didn't respond to the call, the answer has already lied a few meters ahead of them.

And they understood it well, even though it was difficult to accept.

Dolly took a glance at her surrounding, the bad weather seemed to get heavier by the moment. But none of the people who attended the funeral seem to care about it.

It didn't matter whether if their clothes were wet or not. Some of them were still willing to let themselves get exposed to the rain.

The girl's eyes kept wandering until she found a small gap appeared in between the large group of individual before her as another person walked out from their spot. Looking through it, she caught a glimpse of the coffin where Kamijou Touma was resting.

"…Mi-chan."-Dolly called her friend's nickname in a low voice as she fixed her gaze at the coffin.

"Hm?"

"Why did this happen to Kamijou-san?"

"I…don't know."

There was no solution to that question. The investigation toward that boy's predicament has stopped and no evidence was found to progress further.

"We had just met him a few time before, how can something like this happen so sudden?"

"….."

Quiet was the only respond Mitori could give to Dolly.

Why does this suddenly happen?

That was something she, too, wanted to know. In fact, everyone would wanted to know.

But so far, it hadn't been reached by anyone, or probably never even meant to be reached.

If someone was to spend the effort to look for the solution of this puzzle, could they really find it without a single hint?

The gap in the crowd became bigger, eventually the entire coffin of the spiky haired boy came in full view as some people began to leave the funeral.

The two girl watched as his face reflected in their slowly widening eyes.

His expression…

It looked so peaceful and calm, as if he was just sleeping soundly at the moment.

"I wonder…"-Dolly spoke up.

"…..?"

"I wonder if Kamijou-san is dreaming right now."

Mitori was slightly confused at the word.

Seeing that look on Mitori's face, the brown chestnut haired girl put on a sad smile and looked down at the muddy ground. Perhaps she knew what her friend was thinking.

"Mi-chan, do you remember the time we used to play together in that research facility?"

"…..I do….."

There was no way Mitori could forget it.

Those time were precious memories for both of them….no, for the three of them.

The research facility where they first met, the place where they became friends until today.

It was the place where the friendship between the girl who was once a prototype clone and herself was formed, including Mental Out, even though they didn't meet together at the same time.

It was also the place where Mitori's hatred for those who looked down on espers like a guinea pigs burned. Those scientists and the darkness of this city had almost drove her vengeance to the point of no return.

And thankfully, someone had put a stop to her act. What she had done now all lied in the past.

"I don't think I will ever forget it."

"Me either."-Dolly nodded."Not long after you left and Misaki-chan came to befriend with me….at one point, I died."

"…."

In her previous body, due to being a prototype clone, Dolly's body carried a really short lifespan. In order to gain more data from her, the scientists has embedded a life-support machine to Dolly to help her clinging longer to this world.

In the end, she didn't make it and both her memories and knowledge was passed down to her sister, which was another clone.

"It's strange."-the girl continued, tilting her head slightly to Mitori's side."During that time, all I could see was total blackness, I smelled nothing, I felt nothing. Everything around me didn't exist, nothing at all, completely hollow and I just floated endlessly in that empty world."

"Dolly…."

"But then I dreamed about you two, those memories of the time we shared with each other, they appeared in front of me. The memory where Mi-chan displayed your ability in that bottle of water to show me what a dolphin is looked like, the memory where Misaki-chan played dolls with me to cheer me up from all the exhausted experiments."

Dolly extended one hand toward the edge where waters rapidly dripped down and let it fall into her soft, tiny palm.

"Those beautiful moments just kept coming and coming like these small drops until it finally filled up the entire place. It lighted up the whole dark world I was in and thanks to that I was able to feel warm, to know that…somehow, miraculously…I'm still alive."

"….."

"So I waited and hoped to see you and Misaki-chan again until the day I woke up. Now, looking back, everything just felt like a long dream."

"…you really did sleep in that tube for quite a long time."-Mitori mumbled.

The purple haired girl remembered it. The moment when she pulled Dolly out from an incubation chamber and waited for her to wake up from a long years slumber, she felt like a terrible long time has passed since the last time they seen each other inside that small room in the facility.

"Uhm, that's why…."-Dolly lowered her hand, her grip on the umbrella was somewhat trembled and it didn't go unnoticed."….I really hope Kamijou-san is having a dream right now."

Mitori opened her mouth to say something but the gap got smaller and smaller as no words were let out.

They say that people who passed away will move on to the afterlife, or live in a world where color didn't exist, a complete darkness or even become a star on the vast sky…..or just simply gone.

Was falling into a dream after that even possible?

The girl who was once experienced death started lifting her head up and turned to look straight at Mitori. The purple haired girl opened wide her vision in surprised as she saw the glittering water lingered in the corner of Dolly's eyes.

"I know that my case is different from Kamijou-san and maybe I'm naïve to think things work like that. But even so, if he really is dreaming, then Kamijou-san won't find himself be alone in that cold, dark world. Because….because….floating endlessly in that pure darkness, knowing nothing exist aside from yourself…."

The brown chestnut haired girl spoke to a halt, trying to gather her thought while let out a snort.

More and more tears swelled up her eyes.

"It really is lonely and terrifying, you know."

Even though that boy will never wake up again. The girl hoped that he would have a dream in his eternal slumber.

Her thought might be considered as childish, illogical.

But at least, that was still a hopeful wish of a young girl who was once "died".

As long as there is one good dream in that boy's "sleep".

He will have something warm and comfortable to keep his mind away from all the loneliness around him until he can find a single ray of light in that pure blackness.

Mitori leaned in, wrapping her arms around Dolly and pulled her close into a hug.

The tip of their umbrella touched as Dolly laid her head on Mitori's shoulder and wept the small drop that started rolling down from her eyes.

"It's alright, I'm sure he won't feel alone in that black world you had seen. He would have probably dreamed about those moments of his life by now."-she reassured her with a thin smile.

That smile wasn't exactly a smile, it was somewhat forceful and didn't match her sad expression.

Dolly didn't say anything and still tried to weep some more tears that were coming out from her eyes. Her body was trembling slightly and sometime gave out a light jolt.

"….Mi-chan…."

"…?"

"Will everything change and no longer stay the way it was after this?"

"I….really don't know. I'm not so sure if everything will change or not?"

Mitori honestly had no idea of what will come next after this event passed.

Things could immediately change in a way that no one would expect.

Things could progress in a way no one would know.

Many or a few would be affected by it.

But at some points, there are things that most likely presume its nature.

The world will still remain as the same, rotating around the giant light ball like it always did.

Students, teachers, everyone in this city will still go to school, to work or to the research labs.

Time will continue to run and it won't stop for anything.

If there is something bound to change from now on, surely it will be the only thing.

Starting from tomorrow...

Those who was attending here, in this funeral…..

Those who didn't come or could not find themselves to face the cold, harsh truth…..

Those who has caught wind of the news about him from across the globe…

They will live their life knowing the spiky haired boy is no longer around on this Earth.

The change might be painful.

But accepting it is the only choice they have.

Dolly slipped both her arms around Mitori and put on more force in the hug as the former prototype clone dig her face into the purple haired girl's shoulder.

The umbrella landed on the ground without a sound and tears once again shed.

"Dolly, don't cry. You can't say a proper farewell to Kamijou-san if you begin to whimper like that."

"….Mi-chan…..I can't help it…"-the emotional girl uttered each words in her sob."There is…this tingling pain…..in my…..chest…it hurt…..so much….I can't help it….."

"I know…I feel it, too"

"Kamijou-san was so kind…and….Misaki-chan….like him…."

"….I know….."-realizing her hands was shaking, Mitori dropped her gaze on the ground."…so stop crying, Dolly….if you keep weeping like that…..I…I won't be able to hold my tears back."

She tried to hold it back but the effort was in vain, the tears that expressed her sadness slowly broke out and left a wet trail on her cheeks.

For someone who was once worked in the dark side, Mitori was no stranger to people's death and other brutal scenarios.

But that has changed ever since her reunion with Dolly after the Daihaseisai festival.

And latter, that boy has just become another factor which gave more influence on that change of her.

The pair soon broke out from each other hug when came their turn to say farewell to that spiky haired boy.

Dolly still sobbed a little as she picked up the umbrella lying on the ground and left her seat with Mitori.

With each steps they taking toward the coffin, they sobbing started to subside.

"Mi-chan."

"…?"

"What are you going to say to Kamijou-san when we reach him?"

"What about you?"

"I wish him will have a good dream."

"I'm just going to say goodbye."

Dolly turned and looked at her in the eyes.

"That's all?"

"Um, that's all."-said Mitori with a thin smile rose on her lip.

…..that's all there is to it…

It was simple line.

But Dolly knew there was something else her friend try to suppress.

There was definitely more than what Mitori wanted to say to that boy.

And it was clearly showed on her thinly sad smile.

…

…

…

Meanwhile…

….

…

On top a metal bridge, stood a slender figure of a young girl.

…..

…..

Her chocolate haired stuttered when a gust of wind came.

….

…..

Her Tokiwadai uniform was fully soaked in the rain.

…

..….

She reached out both hands to the cold, solid metal.

….

…

Then….slowly…

Mitsuari Ayu lifted her feet off the ground and placed it on the rail.

…..

…

...

 **Chapter 3: A_Painful_Reality**


	5. Between The Line: A-Dim-Light

**Hi everyone, I'm back. It has been...five weeks, hasn't it? I guess that was late than the previous update. Anyway, let's head straight to the "answer to reviewers' question" section, shall we?**

 **Answering to reviewers' questions:**

 **ShadowDeath01: There is, without a doubt, a chapter for Index.** **I have a ton of ideas for the little nun,** ** **Touma is someone really important to her** and so does the relationship between the two of them. Index is more than just a freeloader and a grimoire library. If something like this happens, surely it won't be just tears that falls.**

 **whwsms: Now that is a very, very good guess. But will it really happen? Let the time and the story to lead the way for you to find out.**

 **Kuroppy: Hm...not quite sure what you mean. Touma made his appearance in the Prologue and appeared in most of the chapters so far, didn't he? Or do you mean like what Geust's Account said, a ghost? Well, if that is what you mean then...I wonder.**

 **MrQuestionMark: Thank you for the review and the kind words, it really inspiring me for some reasons. You were right, dealing with this kind of theme is really fun and my creativity really starts to shake off a little bit than normal. It was worth spending time to do some research for this kind of theme. By the way, I forgot to mention this in the previous section. The harem tag is not just for showing how influenced Touma is to the girls, it means what it means. A** ** **lthough the way it shows is a little different than other fanfics,** this story really is a harem fic. More and more characters who got affected with the Legendary Kami-yan disease will make appearance in the later chapters.**

 **Now for the NT16, I guess it's too late to make a review about it at this point so I'll sum up my thought about. Those cute little moments of Kamijou with Shokuhou and Kumokawa-senpai, sure calm the heart after what happened in NT15. The interaction between Salome and Kamijou is funny though, Kami-yan sure gave out a more brother-like aura than her unrelated onii-chan, heh. (I hope it was just my imagination)**

 **And that ending, so intense, I never thought Kamisato would end up in that way. And that speech, Touma is finally back to his usual self. I'm really curious to know how will he save him and break his illusion. Well, I'll be waiting for that moment in November. When that moment came, more materials for me to dig deeper into his character. And when his moment in this story comes...well, Kamisato Kakeru, I'm going to enjoy writing out every single thoughts of you. (chuckles evilly)**

 **Ok, I'll stop rambling to myself now.**

 **That's all, enjoy the story.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own To Aru Majutsu No Index.  
**

* * *

 _ **Between The Line**_

 _ **Once Again, Crossing_The_UNKNOWN**_

 **A_Dim_Light**

* * *

 **-Music 02: Deuce composed by Yamada Yutaka.**

* * *

"….."

Strange…..

It was so strange…

They say that life after death is a complete mystery.

Even with a large amount of scientific experiments were carried out throughout many centuries. It remained as a concept that could never be understood or easily solved by any kind of method.

Even with a large amount of dark rituals and ceremonies were set up a thousand time throughout many generations. It had never brought up any positive result or a clear answer to the meaning lied behind that term.

What exactly will happen when a person moves on to the afterlife?

In history, there were lots of myths, legends and tales came up with many hints about this unique scenario.

It was said the soul of the body that died will go beyond the world they had lived in.

Depended on what the person had done with their life, the soul would either go down to the Seventh Layers of Hell or knock on the Heaven's door and be at peace in the eternal happiness of Paradise.

But so far, none of them has been deemed as the truth or explained in detail or even tested.

So….

What exactly lies beyond the last phrase of every being's life?

Another world?

Another life?

Or simply nothing?

"…."

Strange…

Science and Magic, until now, either side still hasn't come up with a definite solution for these questions that have existed for decades.

But perhaps, it might be true.

Beyond the final stage of life, there might be something there.

Something that, at the moment, no one was unable to comprehend it.

Something that, at the moment, was still outside the furthest imagination of human.

It might be a colorless space where the souls will wander for all eternity.

It might be what they call the end of the world.

It might be Heaven or Hell, reincarnation, various things.

"….."

But then again…..it was really strange…..

The moment he could see again, what he saw was a pitch black world.

The entire place around him was so dark that for a moment, he thought his eyes was closed.

No.

He was seeing it through the small gap of his heavy eyelids that he tried to lift up.

However, the result won't change.

Darkness wrapped around him.

He couldn't feel anything. Even when he wanted to move the fingers, he didn't feel like the sensation was there.

Was this a dream, he wondered.

Silence dominated the place, it was so quiet that he couldn't hear anything…..not even the slightest beating sound of his heart.

No…

At this point, was it even beating to begin with?

…strange…

Not only that, a sleepy and exhausted feeling just kept hitting him but he still tried his best to open half of his eyes and look around.

There was nothing around him, the place was a completely hollow universe.

He didn't feel his back or his feet is touching the ground, his body must has been floating on mid-air. But with the darkness surrounded him, he can't really tell which direction is up and down.

Yet, despite that, he could see the left hand and his feet very clearly.

But it wasn't until this moment that he notice something weird in the corner of his eyes. The right sleeve of the hoodie he was wearing rose forward in a horizontal line, moving gently in a wavy-like wave.

What made it weird is that the way it bent so thinly like those many small waves on the free surface of the sea. For an arm, it was undoubtedly impossible to move in that kind of pattern.

The arm inside that sleeve would either be dislocated, crushed or twisted so badly to the point all the bones inside were completely snapped into pieces.

"…."

But even so, no blood was pouring out, so did the pain.

The right hand wasn't there in his vision.

Which mean….that right sleeve was hollow.

And now he knew.

 **His right arm has disappeared.**

….ah….

His lip opened and formed into a small gap. However, no matter how he tried, words stuck in his throat and didn't let go.

He wanted to let out his voice but the exhausted feeling just prevented him from doing so.

"…."

Confusion filled his mind for what was happening before his very eyes.

It was difficult to catch up with the strange circumstance where he was in.

Then…he saw something appeared.

Something that transparent moved around the dark place.

He couldn't hear it.

He couldn't see it.

But he could feel the air was violently twisted by an invisible force.

That person thought he was seeing things due to the tremendous tiredness that was lingering on himself and his vision.

There was definitely something there, an **Invisible Thing**.

He had seen it on a few occasions.

Its existence alone brought incomparable terror and fear to those around it.

It was so mysterious.

It was so intense, so terrifying and so ruthless.

It was full of rage, full of threatening.

…..yet….

And yet….

At the same time, it looked somewhat….

….sad….

Carrying an immeasurable pressure that could likely tear apart this dark world in an instant, the Invisible Thing was looking directly at him. It seemed to have watched him all this time before he even woke up.

And that was not all.

Several large transparent shadows also began to appear as they came into his view from out of nowhere.

No, saying like that wasn't very much accurate.

The person tilted his head lightly to the side.

To describe it more precisely, they all flew out from within the hollow right sleeve, from where his right limb was supposed to be.

He couldn't really make out what those shadows were. Aside from the Invisible Thing, all he could see through his heavy half-opened eyelids were many figures formed by a soft thin layer of unknown color like an aura.

They extended out further and further then stopped.

"….."

They turned their head toward him, those pair of glowing eyes all directed at him.

Strange…..

On a complete opposite to those beings' nature, they held no ferociousness, no malignant, no evil.

Those giant shadows just looked at that person.

What did that mean?

What were those gazes mean?

It was not sympathy.

It was not pity.

It held something that person couldn't understand.

What was it?

Questions crossed that person's mind but vanished almost immediately. Partly because of his endurance has begun giving out to this exhaustion that lingered on him.

And partly, because of a light suddenly entered his vision from out of the blue.

Through the Thing's unseen body, that person saw a blurry white color.

A tiny ray of light.

"….?"

Since when it was there?

More questions popped up and no answers and again, they were quickly ignored.

His consciousness was slowly slipping away, every strength he could muster to move his body so far started to drop.

The more he watched that light, the more it seemed to get smaller and smaller.

So dim, so blur that it became harder to notice.

Then, a realization struck him. It wasn't the light that got smaller, it was him that unconsciously moved further away from it.

That person noticed that his body was floating away from that single ray of light before his very eyes. Sinking perhaps is the correct choice of word. Like a drown ship got pulled into the depth of the ocean by gravity, that person sunk deeper into the darkness.

Those giant shadows shifted their gazes from him and looked toward the light source. Without any more delay, they all began flying off to it.

"….."

That person watched as those beings all turned away from him and went to that dim light.

The air was no longer twisted. Along with its enormous pressure, the Invisible Thing or Being has gone.

So this is it.

The mystery power that had long rooted within his right hand was leaving him. Like a snap of a violin string, the link between that person and them was disappearing. Their connections were breaking apart.

This really is the end for him…isn't it?

Why did this happen again?

It was no use.

No matter how many questions were asked. At this point, no answer will come to him.

So…..

Maybe it is time to stop.

….it's doesn't matter…anymore…..

There was nothing left he could do, the power resided exclusively within his "missing" arm has left him.

….maybe it's better this way…..

Perhaps it is time to have a good rest.

….that's right….

The dim light once again vanished, letting itself lost in the grip of darkness.

…..this is….for the best…..

That person closed his eyes. Eventually, his body sunk deeper into the abyss.

…

Deeper…

…..

And deeper…

…..

Into this vast, unknown universe…

"…"

All alone…..

….

…

…

…..

Was this….death?

…

…

…..so…..cold…

…

"…"

How long was it when he closed his eyes?

…..odd….

The exhausted feeling was still there. Yet, his consciousness won't let go, it kept hanging, forcing him to stay awake.

His mind circulated around a single thought.

Why?

He had accepted his fate, yet he can't help but wondering that.

It was for the better, he thought.

But an emotion hit him, staying in his mind.

Regret.

Was it too late to feel this way? After all, what there is left for him to do in this state?

That person kept thinking with his eyes shut. Now that it came to him, floating alone in a space that devoiced of everything was a unique experience.

So quiet.

So calm.

But….

…..so…cold…..so…lonely…..

"…."

The feelings resurfaced in him, they went on and on, reaching their peak and starting to subside once that person has finally lost his conscious.

In the end…..

 **The right hand that protect all is no more...**

…..

…..

….

 **or...it is?**

...

Unknown to him, his body was no longer floating endlessly around the dark world. It stopped as something wrapped around it.

An invisible force was supporting his body. It let that person lay on and stayed close to him.

There wasn't just one, many were also there. The air, the space was violently twisted but it didn't let out any sensation to make him notice.

In the end, they all surrounded him and covered his body whole like a giant cocoon.

And that was all.

No more movement.

No more thought.

Only silence again and forever filled in that entire dark place.

….

….

…..

…..

…..it's…..so warm….

…

….

…

 _ **Ks!...**_

 _ **KkksSKSKkKSr!...**_

…..

…..

 _ **KKKSSKRAKKfsaRKKKSkkkkrskrsksKKSrsKrsKsRksRKSrkKHkhHHRrskrskHKKSKgsKRsHELPgSKRSKGKGKsrkskrsksSSKSRSAVEKHKSKRSKHSRsrkhrkhsKsksijfskkHIMkskrfSksrkrRrrrrrrrr!**_

* * *

"….."

In front of him, there was a light.

A very dim light shined alone in pure darkness.

It was so weak and difficult to notice. With just a glance, anybody could easily miss it.

Yet somehow, that person didn't.

He blinked at it and stepped forward.

The small light didn't seem to be so far away. The more step he walked toward it, the bigger and brighter it became.

It wasn't long before he finally stood before it.

Normally, light didn't have a shape or a physical form. But oddly enough, it gathered and took the shape of a hand size object enveloped in a bright light.

For some reason, the person's entire right arm began to twitch lightly.

As if being told by instinct, that person reached out to the light with his right hand.

However, before his fingertips could even touch it, the shining object that resembling to a small notebook suddenly vanished…

Then, darkness filled his vision.

…

…

….

"…."

Letting out a soft groan, that person slowly opened his eyelid.

He was lying flat on the solid ground with his face down. Like a heavy sleeper who couldn't get use to wake up early in the morning, he lifted his face up in a slow manner and looked around.

There were many empty seats on all four directions. Above his head, many round handle were seen, slightly waving on the spot. There was no sight of people, no one but him.

It didn't take long for that person to recognize the place where he was in.

He was inside an unmanned bus.

In his right hand, laid a small notebook.

"…"

Using the torso to support his body, he sat up and noticed a certain guest ID card was lying in front of him along with a few other books and pens and some other trivia stuffs that scattered on the floor.

A brown shoulder bag was also lying next to him, and as the cover was snapped open, all the content inside it has already been shown before his eyes.

For a moment, he just blinked at the stuff and seemed to at a loss for words.

Tap!

A small tapping sound echoed from below him, he looked down and saw a red stain.

Tap!

Another one came.

That person placed a hand to his nose as he noticed something was dripping down from it and there was this rusty smell inside his nostril.

That red stain was blood.

His nose was bleeding.

There was a dent spot where he just raised his head up, he probably had hit his face on the floor hard.

Before he could think of anything else, came another sound to his ear.

It was the voice of a girl. The sound seemed to come from underneath one of the books scattered around the bus floor. Lifting up a book near him to search, he found a music player device.

The device was still playing. In fact, it was playing one of the songs wrote by a famous idol singer, **Meigo Arisa**.

Through the in-ear headphone, the girl's sweet and gentle voice can be heard.

"….."

That person grabbed hold of the device and stared at the screen for a while.

The next thing he knew, an extremely loud roar echoed through his entire body causing him to jolt up while the inside of the bus was lightened up by a bright light.

Darting his eyes toward the window, that person sat up on one knee to look.

Outside the window, the sky was dark and he could hear the furious roar of lightings strike down in mid-air as well as the weakly repeating sound of millions of splattered water-drops.

It was raining….heavily raining.

That person stared with his eyes widened, his expression changed.

The only word that would be enough to describe his face was…dumbfound.

Tap!

Another drop of blood fell on the floor.

Realizing that he hasn't stopped the nosebleed, he sat down on the floor once more and bring up a hand up to squeeze his nose and stop the bleeding.

"….."

That person….."that boy"….started down at the notebook in one of his hands.

He felt puzzled, truly puzzled.


	6. Chapter 4: A-Sorrowful-Tear (1)

**Disclaimer: I don't own To Aru Majutsu no Index.**

* * *

 **Chapter 4: A_Sorrowful_Tear (1)**

Somewhere…..

Outside the world…

There, existed a place where the rain never comes, the blue sky never appears and the sun never rises.

There, white snow and the rapidly flowing cold breeze of winter were the only things dominating the whole place.

In that vast world filled with endless snowscape, trees, animals or any other lifeforms was hardly found or discovered as the climate was always in an extreme condition.

Beside from the temperature that is always below zero, the harsh and active snow storm was also one of the common phenomena that often occurred on this dead land.

And despite all of that, somewhere in that unimaginably harsh environment still stood a mysteriously giant, tall tower that pierced through the heaven.

It was unclear who created it and when it was built there…..or was it simply a part of this place.

Surrounding that tower…..was an unnatural calmness.

Like an exception of nature, the weather of that cold world didn't apply on that particular solid structure. For whatever reason, it just didn't reach near it.

At the top of the tower, as if the scenery came from a fairy tale book, an illusory green light spread everywhere across the cloud top and from up here, the gentle winds flew around.

Be it night or day, the horizon above always carried a pitch black color with many glittering dots like a clear dark sky filled with many stars.

Compared to the hellish environment down there, this was no doubt a complete opposite, a beautiful sight, a small heaven granted by the nature of this world.

Inside the tower that reached to the top of the world, a young girl was looking outside through a big gap on the wall, letting herself captivated by the wonderful scene.

Or at least that was what she had been trying to do.

None of the green clouds or the night sky was reflected on her crimson red eyes. What appeared in it was a torn black scarf holding in her palms.

Aside from the red, white pattern sewed along the body of the black scarf. Its appearance didn't have anything out of ordinary except several holes on the body and a torn parts at one end of it, showing that the scarf had been split apart by a clean cut and was pierced through many time by a sharp object.

At the moment, the other half's whereabouts is still unknown.

In addition to that, one can notice something strange when it was held in their hands. The piece of fabric was extremely light. Like a small feather, those who worn it feel nothing when they wrapped it around their neck.

Somehow, that scarf has no weight.

Even though it was lying firmly in her grip, the girl with long black haired didn't feel like her skin was touching it.

But that didn't matter, her mind wasn't focusing on all those features that made this thing unique.

To her, that torn scarf was special in a different way.

It used to be worn, to be owned by a certain person.

After a twisted of fate happened, the black scarf now fell into her hand and she kept hold of it.

Yet…the girl didn't know what to do. For a moment, she just gazed at it with a pair of swollen eyes.

The heavy creaking sound of a big door behind her opened as a figure step in the vast room, didn't bother to knock on it. The crimson red eyes girl briefly tilted her head to look back at that figure.

The figure was a girl, appearing to be at the same age as her or slightly older. Their gazes met and that other girl raised an eyebrow when she saw the black scarf on the girl's hand.

"Hm? That scarf, was it belong to the boy?"

The black haired girl gently nodded.

"Are you still thinking about what the others had done to him? You should have realized that was the only choice."-that girl sighed, a passive expression flashed on her face.

"….it's not about that….."-the other one replied in a soft tone.

"…?"

"….we gave in to our desires and attacked him…."

"…"

"…we tried to deny it, but our hearts made it so clear for us to unable to escape from that reality…..and…..and all that laughing….all that insults...…"

Rubbing her cheek with one hand, the girl who just entered the room approached the crimson red eyes girl.

"Look, your eyes is swollen. It's not good to leave it like that, you have a beautiful face so you should take care of it."

One hand placed on the black haired girl's shoulder, she tenderly wiped the water lingering in the girl's eyes with the other hand.

"I know you are confusing about what had happened before and in fact I'm confusing, too. The others also don't take it lightly but some of them are not really bothered by this."

"…."

"Since the very beginning, we all wanted this and we just didn't realize it. It makes the connection between him and us unnecessary."-the girl played with a few strands of her emerald long hair, looked a bit nonchalantly at the matter. But her tone soon changed."But I guess I can't really say that so bluntly. That boy was really unfortunate to be the wielder of the Imagine Breaker. It's a sad end but at least, he's in a place better than his world now."

"…..I don't understand…..deep down, he was…."-the girl spoke to a halt, looking down at the scarf.

"Then do you want to forget it?"

The black haired girl widened her eyes at the question.

"Do you want to forget everything about him and let your mind focus more on the real objective that we long desire? It may be difficult but the decision is yours, if you really want to then I'll alter your memories of his existence."

Her hands shook.

"….please…"

She gripped the scarf harder.

"…..don't say something like that…such a thing, I don't want to…."

Silence filled the atmosphere as the emerald haired girl stared at her partner.

"I see."

With a short line, she softly patted on the shoulder of the girl then made her way back to the opened door.

Once she reached for the doorknob, the emerald green haired girl continued her word.

"Kamijou-kun is a kind person. But sadly, deep within us, we unconsciously didn't want to hear or accept that kindness from someone like him, a God of Pestilence. Although, everyone is affected by what he said back then but I doubt they want to think about it again."-a small sigh escaped from her lip."Their desires made them laughed at him, insulted him but right now you can already see the change in this atmosphere. That is quite a shock in and itself."

The black haired girl didn't showed any reaction and she just gazed down at the scarf.

"Listen, I came here to check on you, we all know why you did such an act but the higher up doesn't seem to mind about it so they consider it never happens. And…."

The door slowly moved as she trailed off.

"I have this feeling that I know the exact reason why you did that. I could be right, I could be wrong. But…if I'm right, then it's alright."

The girl slightly flinched and looked at the emerald green haired girl who still turned her back against her partner.

"Just let everything out, a moment like these will soon come to pass. I can't lend you a shoulder so it's better if you use his scarf to express it all through your tears."

"….."

"Rest well."

The door closed back with a small thud, the eternal calm once again returned to the vast room.

The crimson red eyes girl shifted her view back to the ragged black scarf in her hands.

Her vision started to become blurry, tears slowly swelled up in her eyes.

The girl didn't cry, instead she just closed her eyes and let the teardrops fell down on the scarf. The girl stayed that way for a while.

Unexpectedly, something strange occurred.

All the holes and the torn parts at one end of the scarf miraculously began to mend back together by itself, as if being healed by a supernatural force.

Eventually, the scarf went back to normal like nothing happened.

But the long black haired girl didn't aware of this bizarre phenomenon.

As she closed her eyes, the image of a certain young spiky haired boy has occupied most of her mind.

At this point, she didn't want to think of anything else.

The tip of the scarf wavered as a gentle wind flew in.

…..

…

…..

In another time….

At another place…

A girl with short chestnut haired casted her gaze toward the gleaming light that slowly spread across the horizon.

The faint breath which breathed out from her nose was visible enough to see due to the cold air that forever took over the place.

Although her eyes, which carried a color that matched with her hair, reflected the blazing aurora of the rising sun, it completely devoiced of any catch light that brings out the emotion from deep within her.

Her face, her expression. It was so blank, so emotionless.

The snows were falling down, sometime wavered as a dry leaf. It piled up around the rock where she was sitting on. It piled up on the girl's small shoulder and lied there as she sat still.

A black goggle was lying next to her feet, slowly painted in white as those tiny ices wrapped it whole.

As the dawns light made it way to everywhere in all direction, those crystals with millions of forms sparkled and shined beautifully, fusing itself with the warm sunlight.

And in the middle of such a scenery, something lingered on the girl, something that never fit with the sight that came out from those pictures in the magical books.

For a while, the young girl still sat there, looking at the sun rose nearly halfway from behind the far away mountain.

"….."

The wind flew ever so gently, followed by an invisible chilliness as it depicted the very nature of this place.

Closing by, a rustling sound came from a family-sized camping tent.

From inside the door made of canvas, a woman in a jacket with another cheap lab coat in between stepped out and stretched out both arms above the head but immediately hugged herself in tremble when a small breeze touched her skin.

"W-woah…so c-cold…..!"

The woman clumsily let out a sneeze and it didn't take long for her to notice the back of the short chestnut haired girl sitting on the rock.

"Oh? Good morning, you up quite early today."-after a cheerful greeting, she sneezed again and hugged herself tighter."….bbrrr….I should have brought warmer clothes for this picnic trip. 10777-chan, let's head back in, I'll make us some nice hot cup of teas."

Misaka #10777 didn't move, not even a little bit and she just kept silent.

The female researcher looked at her in confused, wondering what the young girl was doing.

"…"

Without a respond, the girl with the serial number #10777 slowly titled her head back to look at the clumsy researcher over her shoulder.

The woman in white jacket widened her eyes in bewilderment as she watched.

On one side of the girl's cheek, there was one drop of crystal that stood out more than these crystalline ices. It glided down to her chin, glittering non-stop as it fell onto the snow and melted away upon the contact.

A single tear.

"W-what's wrong, 10777-chan?"-the female researcher asked in worry.

"…he's gone…."

The sister responded in a monotone voice. Her expression was still the same, but that small tear-drop alone was enough to speak everything for her.

"That person, our savior…isn't around….anymore…"

…

…

…..

… _ **..**_

… _ **.**_

… _._ _ **ks**_ _….._ _ **ks!**_

… _ **KKKkksksskkskrkkrskrksrksrrrrrrrrr!**_

… _ **.KKKKkskrksrKSRKRKSRKSKKSRRrsRSsrKSKRSKKSkskskkkskskskskshhssHSrsRKSrRrrrrrrrrrrr!**_

… _ **..**_

 _ **...**_

 _Quietly wandering along one of the many narrowed alleyways, a certain short chestnut haired girl stopped as within her vision, she saw a familiar black spiky haired boy walked out from a corner of the street at a couple of blocks away and went on further by himself._

 _She watched him for a short moment, then began following him. The pendant hanging before her chest waving lightly every time she increased her pace in order not to lose sight of him._

 _The girl was known as Misaka #10032, and the only one of the remaining 9969 clones who has that silver necklace with a heart accessory. It was a gift which the boy in front of her had bought for her, allowing him to easily distinguish herself from the original._

" _Nyan~."_

 _Misaka #10032's body slightly jumped at the sudden voice of the black cat lying comfortably in her arms. Still with a blank expression, she placed one finger on the kitten's nose, telling her feline companion to be quiet as they followed the boy._

 _There could be a specific reason for this act._

 _Perhaps, she was doing this because it has been a while before she last saw him._

 _Perhaps, she was doing this because she wanted to have a few moments with him regardless of her other sisters were leaking out a bit of jealousy into the network as they just received the information._

 _Or perhaps maybe the reason of what her doing was….both._

 _Lately, seeing that boy strolling around the School District alone around this time was quite a rare sight to be honest. But the fact that he was rarely appeared at anywhere near there in the past brought curiousness to her._

 _So the truth reason why Misaka #10032 followed him lied at the direction where the boy was heading. Somehow the routines he chose to walk and the streets he crossed gave the girl an idea of where he was going to._

 _And that small bag in his hand only made the girl even more curious._

 _Putting everything in place, the girl with the serial number #10032 came to a conclusion._

 _It all lead to one location._

 _That boy was on his way to the entrance of_ _ **School Garden**_ _._

…

… _.._

… _._

 _During the entire time walking toward there, the black spiky haired boy didn't seem to detect the presence of Misaka's little sister who was a few distance behind him._

 _The boy just casually moved his feet and sometime misfortune called out to him as it has always been the obvious thing that happens daily._

 _One time, before crossing a junction, he quickly made way to a couple of students who was in hurry but only to hit the traffic light pole head-on as he dodged to the side._

 _One time, he fell face down on the sideway as he stumbled on an empty can._

 _One time, he, along with his school bag, altogether rolled down a long staircase on a footbridge as if his mind was somewhere on the sky and didn't pay attention to his surroundings._

 _For now, that boy just sat on a bench and let out a long sigh with an exhausted look on his face._

 _The girl still watched him in silence._

 _It was this time that Misaka #10032 noticed something is strange with the boy._

 _As he mumbling the catchphrase that has stuck with him for life, she thought she just saw a sharp glint in his blue eyes._

 _It was sharp but it also held a mysterious vibe in itself._

… _what is that look in his eyes? Says Misaka as she observed the boy._

 _Kamijou Touma didn't do anything besides from looking down at the solid ground for a while. The boy was literally didn't pay any attention to anywhere around him._

 _Judging from the indescribable expression showed on his face, the boy was thinking of something else. Something that important enough to make him unaware of where he steps his foot on._

 _The girl now has the life of a normal human began to close the distance between herself and that boy. With the military knowledge that has been installed into her memory through the Testament machines after she was born, Misaka #10032 could easily stand right behind his back without making a sound._

 _The black kitten in her arms was unlikely to let out a meow as it was busy observing the pendant waving left and right._

 _There is the chance for her to talk to the boy, to dismiss this curiosity that has bothered her and the other sisters in the Misaka Network._

 _But that wasn't all._

 _That was not the Railgun's little sister's only aim._

 _Silently stepped behind the bench the boy was sitting on, the girl's brown pair of eyes shifted to an object that Kamijou placed next to his side._

 _The main concern is the content of that small bag. Inside, it was filled with the delicious homemade cookies decorated in many forms and flavors._

… _..did someone give it to the boy or did he buy that as a gift for someone else? Says Misaka, adding more questions to her concern._

" _Misaka Imouto?"_

 _Misaka #10032 quickly snapped out from her own thought by the boy's sudden voice. He was looking at her over his shoulder, shifting his sitting position slightly to the side._

 _While the surprise of unexpectedly being noticed was all over her and hadn't let go. The black cat lying in her arms let out its cute "Nyan~" toward the spiky haired boy as if it greets him._

 _As their eyes met, Misaka #10032 also recognized that strange glint in his eyes has disappeared._

" _It's been a while."-the boy put on a thin smile."I haven't seen you around in the city recently."_

" _How did you notice Misaka is here? Asks Misaka, wondering how the boy could find this Misaka in her stealth mode."_

" _Stealth mode?"_

" _Nevermind. What are you doing at this place? Asks Misaka as she attempts to change the topic to hide her intention of following the boy."_

 _Kamijou's sweat dropped at the last part of her words._

"… _..um…..Imouto, you've been following this Kamijou-san?"_

" _Approximately 8 minutes and 34 seconds, informs Misaka with an accurate record."_

"… _I…I see…m-may I ask why?"_

"…"

 _Misaka Imouto kept quiet at the question. Her icy expression didn't show anything to the boy, but the tinge of pinks that began to form on her cheeks had made the answer quite clear to him._

 _If only he could get what that means._

" _Misaka-"_

" _Nyan~!"_

"… _?!"_

 _Suddenly, the black kitten jumped on the boy's head, causing him to startle and abruptly interrupting the sister's speech in the progress. The kitten then landed on his thigh and went to the bag, scratching it._

 _The two watched as the kitten tried to open it. It seemed to be attracted by the smell of those cookies from inside that bag._

" _Oh? You want to eat it?"_

 _Kamijou took the bag from the still developing claws of the black kitten and opening it._

" _Here, one piece of cookie with vanilla flavor for you."-the spiky haired boy placed a cookie in front of the cat._

 _Still carrying an icy expression, Misaka #10032 looked at her kitten who started nibbling at the piece cutely. At this point anyone with just a glance can tell that the light in her eyes was sparkling._

 _The little sister just discovered a new adorable side of her pet._

"… _.hm…."-Kamijou raised an eyebrow as if something came to his mind."Misaka Imouto."_

"… _?"_

" _Is it me or this little guy here seems bigger than the last time I saw him?"-the boy ran his hand on the kitten's smooth black fur._

" _Misaka doesn't see any change in the physical appearance of the kitten, as far as she can tell, says Misaka as she answers the question."-the girl titled her head._

" _Really? They say that kitten grows up really fast. I thought he got taller, almost as the same size as Sphynx though."_

" _Nyan~."-meaning…something._

" _Is the cookie tastes good? This Kamijou-san put a lot of effort into making it, you know."-he smiled and rubbed the cat's head with a finger._

 _An "Eh?" came out from Misaka Imouto's mouth as she listened. The boy turned to look at the girl, her word seemed to have reached his ear._

" _That bag of cookie."-she pointed at it."You made it? Asks Misaka as she is surprised at the new discovery."_

" _Yup, these delicious cookies were made by this Kamijou Touma's very hands. It's one of my favorite foods and I've been trying to bake stuff like these for a while. Although my cooking skill may not be anywhere near Maria's league, this is the only domain that I will always find victory."-the spiky haired boy crossed his arms and nodded in satisfaction."Kamijou-san is really proud of his cookies, you know. Saten-san and Maika even admitted they are tasty, too…...well…..as if that could ever change the fact that I'm still one level below that maid girl though, she really is good at everything."_

" _I see. In other word, you made this because you don't want to lose to this "maid girl" person, correct? Says Misaka as she came up with a possible possibility based on the given information."_

"… _..it's….."-Kamijou spoke to a halt. For some reasons, he glanced sideway before turning his eyes back to Misaka Imouto."It's not quite like I don't want to lose to her. Since the beginning, this isn't even a competition to begin with. I made this partly for practicing and because I like it, cookies is the best when they're homemade."_

" _Then, did you intend to give it to someone you're about to meet? Asks Misaka as she begins the interrogation."_

 _A question mark danced on the spiky haired boy's head. He stared at Misaka Imouto with a blank look, didn't quite catch up with the meaning behind the word "interrogation" but decided to shrug it off afterward._

 _The boy didn't immediately answer but while he was pondering for the question, Misaka #10032 found her body slightly tensed up with each second passed while she waited for his answer._

" _No, I made this for myself. I was about to eat it before someone mumbled something behind me."_

 _The girl tensed up even more at the words. However, lucky for her, Kamijou didn't notice that as the reaction was never showed on Misaka #10032's expression thanks to her emotion being suppressed._

" _Here."-the boy handed a piece of cookie to her and patted on the spot next to the kitten."Why don't you sit down and try it, Imouto?"_

 _Misaka Imouto followed his word and sat down on the bench with the black cat being in the middle. She took a look at the cookie in her palm that covered by a sweet scent of vanilla flavor and gave it a bit._

"… _.!"_

 _Misaka #10032's icy expression melted._

 _There was a ringtone suddenly echoed but the cool beauty didn't pay any attention to it as her mind had been captivated by the sweetness of a milky like cream that slowly spread in her mouth._

… _this taste…aside from the sweet flavor of vanilla, there is also a bitter and rich taste of chocolate mixed in together. Not only that, the softness of the texture indicates that this cookie was baked with the right temperature and in a perfect amount of time, from 8 to 10 minutes. Sugar, salt and butter were cleverly balanced so the cookie can bring out further its own unique flavor which is very pleasant to eat._

 _The girl took another bite of the cookie in delight and enjoyed that perfect combination of multi-flavors made by the boy._

" _This cookie really tastes good, says Misaka as she is enjoying the fo-"-Misaka #10032 made a compliment as she turned her head to the spiky haired boy but what she saw next made the girl cut off her own words._

 _A dark, depressing aura was surrounding Kamijou Touma. For some reason, his shoulder slumped down in depression as if his homework at school just got increasing. Like those young students who can't enjoy the summer holidays due to the giant work load of assignment, the boy hang his head down in defeat._

 _Misaka #10032 kept her blank gaze at the boy and looked down to an object that caught her eyes._

 _A phone was held firmly in his hand. Taking a quick glance, the brown short haired girl can saw a short text paragraph visible on the screen before it automatically turned off._

 _With a long sigh, the spiky haired boy mumbled the word that has stuck with him for life._

" _Such misfortune..."_

" _What's the matter?"_

" _Ah…..no, it's nothing. It's just that Kamijou-san's schedule might have gotten even thicker today. Somehow, I have another extra supplementary lesson waiting for me at my teacher's place this afternoon."-Kamijou leaned back on the bench and stared at the blue sky with his exhausted, half-opened eyes while muttering."And here I thought I finally have enough decent grades to avoid it. Maybe those private tutoring sessions with senpai aren't enough to improve my grade or maybe I'm still not studying hard enough yet."_

 _It seemed the boy only talked to himself and temporarily forgot about the Railgun's little sister._

 _Wait…what is this private tutoring sessions he is talking about?_

" _Oh well, at least I can borrow Komoe-sensei's kitchen to cook dinner tonight and save money for tomorrow grocery. Looking on the bright side, this isn't actually unlucky at…..all…wait a second….."_

"… _..?"_

 _The boy suddenly jolted forward which surprised the short brown hair sister who was staring at him in wonder. Kamijou straightened his back, eyes went wide and started sweating as he remembered something important. Something that probably came to term with the word unlucky since his face slowly pale by the seconds._

" _If I…if I go there and stay till the evening, then won't that means Kamijou-san might have to deal with the whole young boy's uniform cosplay again?! No no, that is definitely not good…b-but the fridge in my apartment is already empty, fund is running dry, if I don't cook something for Index, Sphynx and Othinus, my lifespan will decrease!"-the boy hugged his head in horror."How come all the choices I have only lead to terrible ends?! Such misfortune!"_

 _Like always, misfortune never had any intention to leave the poor boy alone._

 _Also…what is this young boy's uniform cosplay he is talking about? From the look on his face, this must have sounded pretty much disturbing._

 _With another sigh, Kamijou took out a small notebook from his pocket and flipped through the pages, then began writing something in it._

 _Seeing this sparked up an interest in Misaka Imouto._

"… _is that…..?"_

" _Hm?"-the boy turned his head back at her and started explaining once he noticed the curious light in the clone's eyes."Oh, this? I'm just taking memo. There've been a lot of things in my mind lately so I need to write everything down in case I may forget something important….again."_

"… _.?"-Misaka Imouto tilted her head in slight confusion at the short pause, his voice near the end was so weak a tone that she could hardly hear it._

 _The pencil in Kamijou's hand moved as the spiky haired boy drew a quick two straight lines overlapped on each other. Didn't miss the chance, Misaka's little sister took a brief glance at the content of the page he was writing on. The boy just crossed out a few lines and wrote some new one under them._

 _The details were kept to minimum and the times were added next to each lines. He was fixing something that looked like a daily notes inside that small notebook._

 _This was a rare sight to see._

 _From what Misaka #10032 has known about her savior so far, Kamijou Touma didn't have that look of someone who can carefully plan out what should they do for today. His carefree nature won't suit for that._

 _Considering his life was strangely flooded with misfortune. It would be more suitable to say that Kamijou was someone who always went with the flow of the events in his life._

"… _.hm….."-done taking memo, the black spiky haired boy scanned through the content he just wrote again, murmuring with his eyebrows furrowed lightly."…..this is good enough…."_

 _Why the sudden change?_

 _Was this a new habit of him?_

 _Or….._

" _Have you been busy so much that you need to do this, asks Misaka as she observes the out of character moment of the boy?"_

 _Kamijou sweat dropped at the last part but once again quickly shrugged it off._

" _...well, I don't usually-"_

" _Misaka is just joking at the last part."-the short brown haired girl said that with such a straight, expressionless face that the humor in her word didn't even last long for a millisecond."Seeing you do something like this is really interesting although Misaka is curious of when did you engage into this sort of activity."_

"… _."_

"… _?"_

 _There was another pause at this moment, Kamijou didn't immediately reply, instead, he just kept silent while those pair of blue eyes of his fixed on Misaka Imouto's brown one. Maybe it was really not worth to put on a joke for that._

 _The little sister's unique sense of humor must has gone rusty, hopefully not._

"… _when did I start doing this you ask?"-the spiky haired boy averted his gaze from her and looked down at the note in his hands."I'm not really sure how to put that."_

 _Not sure?_

 _What did he mean by that?_

" _I just follow an advice of a friend and this book is mainly to remind me of what I shouldn't forget….those important moments and memories that I will never let go."_

 _Misaka #10032 blinked at the expression of the boy. For some reason, the emotion displayed on his face was unreadable, the blue eyes that stared at the notebook seemed to look at something further than it._

 _It seemed somewhat distant._

" _Ah."-as if knowing the stare, which has grown more curious, Misaka was focusing on him, the boy let out a small jolt and turned back to her."A-anyway, this is just for reminding me of what I used to do and what I need to remember."_

 _The Railgun's little sister slowly nodded her head. The boy wasn't finished though, his mouth stopped moving yet the small gap was still opened, there was something else that he wanted to say but also wanted to suppress it down at the same time._

 _Eventually, the black spiky haired closed that gap along with the book, turning his head slightly away from the short brown haired girl._

" _Although….."_

"… _.?"_

" _Although I said that I'm just taking memo, I actually record most of what I have done throughout the day though."-continued the boy as he awkwardly scratched the back of his head."What I'm doing with this book is more than just simply taking note."_

 _In other words…_

" _Then….in other words,_ _ **you are writing a**_ _ **diary**_ _, Misaka concludes."_

 _The spiky haired slowly turned his gaze back to her, nodding._

"… _..yeah….."_

 _A small reaction spread across Misaka #10032's icy expression, the catch light in her eyes brightened up a little bit. To know the high school boy sitting before her would have this side of him. Coming from the boy himself, that was really a surprise._

" _Nya~."_

 _Drawn by a cute meow, the two shifted their eyes down at the black kitten who has just finished the cookie. With two front leg placing on the boy's lap, the kitten sometime rubbed its head on the boy while extended its small paw toward the bag of cookie on his other laps, wanting to have another bite of it._

 _One piece of the delicious stuff probably wasn't enough for him._

" _What? You want some more?"-Kamijou chuckled lightly as he asked the little feline, he opened the bag and took out another piece of cookie. However, this time he split it into two."Sorry, but this time I can only give you this much, Kamijou-san need to save it for his own stomach, too."_

 _The small cat let out a "nyan~" back to his word as if it tried to say thank you and started digging in. Kamijou rubbed its head with a finger again and smiled thinly. The two watched in silence as the kitten let the last piece inside its mouth then scratched the boy lap for more._

 _On the other hand, while observing her little pet and the boy, an uneasy sensation began swelling up in Misaka Imouto even though the delightful feeling of watching her cat eat was still there._

 _Why did she feel somewhat bother when her kitten is attracted to the boy more than before?_

 _Just what is this feeling called when you see your pet stops paying attention to you and cutely rub its head on somebody else for food rather than yourself?_

 _As Misaka #10032 was busy asking herself of the feeling that a cat person like her didn't often experience, the purring sound of an engine interrupted her line of thought. A bus went past them and stopped by a station lied on the opposite side of the street not far from where they were sitting._

 _Quietly shook off her gaze from the road vehicle, the short brown haired sister turned her attention back to the boy but he didn't seem to have the same action. Kamijou was looking at the bus stop, his eyes fixed on nowhere but that place as if he was looking for someone. Or rather, considering what the girl has seen him doing until now, it would be more accurate to say that he was waiting for someone else._

 _It was obvious._

 _Nearby, from the bench where they were currently sitting on and in the direction where the bus just came from, the entrance to School Garden lied just a few blocks ahead._

 _Soon, the bus departed to another location after a few female students stepped out and casually walked away in their chatting. The spiky haired raised an eyebrow in wonder, blinking for a moment then stood up from his spot to glance around with a puzzled look on his face._

 _No doubt about it, he really did came here to meet someone, someone who studied inside that place._

 _Scratching the back of his head, Kamijou took out the cell phone and looked at the time, mumbling something in his mouth._

 _Perhaps the person he was waiting hadn't arrived yet._

 _Upon thinking about this, the catch light in Misaka #10032's eyes wavered as another feeling began to rise up within her. It was a bit unpleasant._

 _Out of all the people inside that place that the short brown haired girl knew the boy had met in the past._

 _So far, there can be only one person he is closed with._

… _could it be that the person he is waiting for is…..Misaka's…..?_

" _Are you here to meet onee-sama? Questions Misaka."_

" _Hm?"-Kamijou turned back, eyes slightly opened wide at the mention of a certain Electric Princess's name."Biribiri? No, not really."_

… _..eh..?_

 _The little sister was confused. Could the boy had met someone else who also studied inside that same District as her onee-sama?_

" _I actually come here to meet a friend though, she also studies in the same school just like Misaka."-Kamijou went back to the bench and sat down, didn't notice the girl let out a slight jolt as she heard that."But strange, the bus has already left at this time and she isn't here yet. Normally, she is the one sitting here by the time I arrive. I wonder if she is busy with something today."_

 _Once again, Kamijou didn't aware. That statement of him brought another light twitch to the short brown haired girl._

 _Normally…_

 _That word didn't sound right._

 _By all means, to Misaka #10032, those word didn't feel right at all. In fact, it was alarming._

 _A buzzing sound rang through the inside of Kamijou's pocket once more. The boy took it out and looked at the caller's name. For some reason, he blinked, eyes slightly widened with a hint of surprise lingered on it._

 _Seeing this raised an alarm bell in the young girl's head._

 _After the boy pressed the button and responded to the caller, the conversation took place next increased the alarming rate even more. It wasn't a false alarm, Misaka Imouto had guess it right._

 _Kamijou was talking to the person he is waiting for._

 _Most of all, doing this meant they had exchanged the phone number to each other while Imouto hasn't yet._

 _The girl felt like she was hit very hard by a sense of defeat….no, it wasn't just her. The entire Misaka Network was troubled by the same unpleasant emotion as Misaka Imouto shared this important piece of information to the rest of the Network and it had become the main concern of the sisters._

 _[Does that means he often comes there to meet that person?! Says Misaka #10909 in a worrying tone.]_

 _[Based on the information given, it seems another rival has appeared. #10032, please proceed the interrogation further immediately to get more detail from the boy, advices Misaka #10178 with a….slight hint of jealousy.]_

 _[No need to hesitate to say it, #10178. This Misaka also feels the same, says Misaka #10777, reassuring her sister.]_

 _[Since we hadn't met him for a while, it was our mistake that we didn't keep an eyes on what has happening around our savior. Considering the relationship between him and that person through his words, if this keeps up, our position in his heart will be at risk! We will be one step behind onee-sama and this person, afraid Misaka #17458 as she thinks of the frightening outcome.]_

 _[Misaka also wishes that she could come back to Academy city to meet the boy again, maybe that is the only way to ease this tingling pain in Misaka's chest. It keeps squeezing so much that she temporarily finds difficulty in breathing, just what is this unpleasant feeling? Asks Misaka #18739 as she feels nervous at the unexplainable phenomena.]_

 _The entire Network went all silence right after that statement was spoke, no more comments were made until a brief moment had passed._

 _(….)_

 _[Misaka suggests it's time we should close the distance between ourselves and him.]_

 _[Agree, right now #10032 is with the boy, we should take action immediately, says Misaka #16372 as she encourages #13295's idea while she still feels the circumstance is somewhat unfair.]_

 _[Misaka hears your suggestion, she will take this change to get closer with the boy and to help us easing this strange feeling by continuing to share the information to the Network.]_

 _Sisters who were accessing to the Network altogether agreed with the brilliant solution. However….._

 _[However…]_

 _Misaka Imouto wasn't finished yet._

 _[Misaka will do this via her own action.]_

 _Lots of [eh?] were heard._

 _The sisters were confused by her word. Of course, it was obvious that she is the only one stays closest to the boy at the moment so the progress of their determination in closing the "heart distance" between them and the boy entirely rested upon her shoulder._

 _What could be wrong?_

 _Was there another meaning behind those words of the short brown haired girl with the serial number #10032?_

 _[For now, this Misaka will temporarily disconnect herself from the Network so she can do this to the fullest of her ability alone. She will update the detail to all of you afterward.]_

 _At first…_

 _There were a few agreed to her words but later on, as a thought struck the other sisters individually, most of that positive agreements were overshadowed by a huge amount of negative emotion leaking into the Misaka Network while Imouto disconnected from it._

 _Yes._

 _There was another meaning behind her words all right and they all realized it since that single term "alone" only made it clearer._

 _The short brown haired girl nodded quietly to herself before she quickly shifted her sitting position to the side with enough force that the pendant hanging before her chest waved left and right due to the sudden motion._

 _Her soft lip parted, readying to start another "interrogation" with the spiky haired boy. But before she could let out a word, the girl froze on the spot as she saw the boy hang the school bag, which he was carrying with him, over his shoulder while he stood up._

" _Where are you going?"_

" _Well, I just received a call from my friend. It seems she is busy with some school works at Tokiwadai today so she can't come."-he looked back at her and replied._

 _Kamijou let out a small sigh and folded his arms, lightly tilted his head to the side._

" _This is unexpected, there is still a lot of time before Komoe-sensei supplementary class starts in the afternoon. I wonder what else I should do until then."-the boy opened the notebook again and flipped through pages, murmuring, trying to contemplate about what he can do next with the amount of free time he had."…hm….going back to the apartment, perhaps…..nah…there's no one there, those two are probably still hanging out with Kazakiri by now and the fridge is empty….should I head straight to Komoe-sensei's place?...nope, it will be a bad idea if I accidently bump into that girl alone….."_

 _A troubled look ran on the boy's face as he closed the book and exhaled through his nose. It seemed like he didn't have any other options left._

"… _...maybe I should just stroll around the Districts for the time being….."_

 _Hearing that, a clicking sound like a light was turned on echoed inside Misaka #10032's mind._

" _Well, I'll be going then. See you around, Misaka Imouto."_

 _With a small wave to Misaka #10032, the black spiky haired boy turned around and walked away. However, his footsteps came to a stop as the little sister of Railgun rushed to him and embraced his right arm._

" _Wh-?! M-Misaka Imouto?!"-Kamijou stuttered._

 _The sudden, bold act of the girl shocked him. Just when the boy was still trying to progress what he saw into his head, Misaka #10032 brought her body closer and put more force into her embrace on his arm._

 _Compared to the Original, the sisters were on a whole different level when it comes to the way to "approach" their crush._

 _The chance had come for her to close the distance with the boy._

 _There was no way she could let it slide._

" _Please hear Misaka."_

"… _?"_

" _Since you don't have anything else to do at the moment, let Misaka accompany you during your free time, says Misaka as she honestly express her feeling by putting it into action."_

 _While embracing his right arm, the short brown haired girl looked up to him. The catch light in her eyes wavered and glittered gently like a wave of emotion that wished to be let out but couldn't due to being suppressed to hide inside that expressionless face. Although Misaka Imouto's facial expression appeared as emotionless as usual, the tiny tinge of pink formed on her cheek was hard to miss._

 _Listening to her words, the panic looked on Kamijou's face slowly faded away. Perhaps due to not knowing what to do in this situation, he rubbed the back of his head in nervous._

"… _.."_

"…"

 _And…_

"… _..alright….."_

 _With a little hesitation lingered in that motion of his, the spiky haired boy nodded…._

 _..._

* * *

 **Author's note: Hi everyone, now is my second note in this fandom. (smile)**

 **That's the first part of the chapters of Misaka Imouto. So what do you think about it?**

 **Now, I have something I want to say to my readers, both good new and bad new.**

 **The good new is...it's decided! _Road to Romance?_ is officially in my "to-do" list! Hoorayyyy!...(cough)...so thank you, readers. Thank you so much for the feedbacks and reviews. Once the first arc of this story is done, I'll be right back and continue with the predicament of Touma, Kakeru and Noukan.  
**

 **Okay, now the bad new is...at first, I intent to make this chapter break through the 10.000 words mark but unexpectedly, there's an exam coming up next week so I decided to change of plan and ended this chapter right here so I can concentrate on other stuff first before getting back on track again. Last time I said the chapter is 50% complete so yeah, this is about 70% of that chapter now so the next one might be a little bit shorter. Anyway, I apologize for not bringing to you a full chapter of Imouto.**

 **That's everything I want to say. (oh wait, now looking back...the bad new doesn't sound so much like a bad new, does it?)**

 **Alright, onto the "interact with reviewers" section:**

 **Guest: Well, since this is a mysterious type of story, all those questions are for you to find out on your own. As for the IB and IT, of course I'm fully aware of them being two seperate things. If you got confused by the previous chapter...then once again, the answer will come to you as the story progress.**

 **Black Madness: Hm...good question, but you'll see if he really is or not.**

 **Vietnamese guy: à, ko đâu bạn, thật ra mình coi novel này trên Baka-Tsuki (english từ đầu chí cuối) với lại mình cũng dùng wiki của Index để tìm hiểu thông tin nhân vật cho họ ứng xử sát với cannon chút (à mà AU thì thế nào cũng được mà nhỉ?). Ý tưởng để viết cái story này thì mình đã có từ lâu rồi và để dành cũng hơi bị nhiều nên giờ xả ra hết, với lại mục đích chính cũng là để luyện grammar tiếng Anh nhưng giờ thì nó thành hobby luôn rồi, he he. Tiến độ thì là một tháng một chap hoặc có thể hai, tùy vào cái thời khóa biểu của mình.**

 **Mizu Ryujin: At some points, their moments will come so you can look forward to it.**

 **Okay, that really is everything for now. I'll see you in the next note.**


	7. Chapter 5: A-Sorrowful-Tear (2)

**Hi everyone, I'm back along with the new chapter of the story. Finally, after four months this (tearjerker) story has finally got a new update, I hope your interest with the story hasn't cool down yet. Anyway, I'm sorry for the inconvience, life sure gives you some moments that you could never expect.**

 **whwsms: In a battle or a normal converstation, never lower your guard down with the Kami-yan disease. You don't know how much contagiousness (and dangerous) the disease could get. If only the you-know-who could accept it and unleash its full potential.**

 **wildarms13: Your guess is close enough, that small note he is using is a diary for many purposes. But for now, it would be mainly for recording the events of the day and reminding himself of what to do, the rest will be filled in as the story progress to some points. Knowing him, he might not have been the type to do something like this and yet he still did, it sure raises up a few questions.**

 **Alright, that would be enough for my words. Well then, h** **as everyone aboard the feel train yet? Let the trip continue.**

 **Enjoy~.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own To Aru Majutsu no Index.**

* * *

 **Chapter 5: A_Sorrowful_Tear (2)**

"…."

The rain was still falling, heavy as it has always been ever since the unexpected tragedy occurred a few days back.

In a cemetery located in District 10, between the mixture of the roaring sound of lighting and the never ending splattering sounds of water hitting against the earth, the mourning and sorrowful cries echoed in the dreadful atmosphere.

Standing far away from a funeral, under one of the trees, was a figure of a young girl with short brown hair. Her eyes, which had so little emotion from the day she was given the serial number #10032, now lost all the catch light and become even more expressionless than before.

She stood there, all alone with an umbrella held in one hand and a black kitten lying in the other arm as she let the image of the coffin of a certain spiky haired boy embed deep into her eyes.

"…nyan…"

One small meow of the kitten was let out, it reached her ears but the girl still kept her gaze at the funeral. It wasn't enough to break the line of thoughts circulating in her mind.

Misaka Imouto watched as people moved from their spots and went to the coffin in turn to bid their last farewell to the unfortunate boy.

Due to her circumstance for being one of the "sisters", she couldn't go there and reveal herself to the public.

Even when things has turned out like this, she just couldn't find a suitable way to get near that place, near him.

The umbrella above her head gently shook, ever so slightly as her grip on it tightened.

How much she wanted to go there to do the same thing for the boy.

How much she wanted to see his face from up close one more time before it remains as a memory buried behind a thick layer of pictures.

How much she wanted to think that….all of this sight before her very eyes was just an illusion, a nightmare.

The kitten let out another meow, digging, rubbing its head into Misaka's Tokiwadai uniform when a cold breeze flew past both of them. Noticing the chilling coldness was getting to the cat, Misaka looked down at her pet and brought it closer to her, hugging it with her arm, letting the warm of her body protects the shivering kitten from the fury of nature.

The former clone then shifted her eyes back to the funeral. As she stared in silence, a few individuals from the gathering crowd began to leave the funeral and made their way back to the entrance of the cemetery. Probably because they had said everything they need to the boy who seemed to never wake up from his deep slumber again.

At one point, in the corner of her eyes, two silhouettes suddenly showed up in the heavy rain with an umbrella also above their heads to cover themselves from being soaked.

The girl quickly recognized one of them.

….onee-sama...

The Railgun and her roommate have arrived at the funeral of the boy. With one hand holding the umbrella, the pig tails level 4 teleporter's other hand grabbed hold of Mikoto's right wrist and slowly led the girl to toward their seat. While taking each step to follow her friend, Mikoto slightly stumbled on her feet a few time as she walked there with Kuroko.

The girl must still had been really shocked by all of this.

Still showing no trait of feeling on her icy expression, Misaka #10032 watched the two.

And…..

In that brief moment of observation, she saw it, the small trail of tears that glided down from the Railgun's teary eyes.

It has been a few days from when the boy was found in that horrible state. Yet, even now…..

Those tears of her still won't dry.

….onee-sama…..she is still crying…..

Like her, Imouto could hardly accept what was happening before her very eyes. But even though she had tried to deny, turning away from this "nightmare" many time, nothing will ever change.

Accept or not, reality will stay this way.

It was awfully unbearable.

Before the two finally blended into the crowd, the young sister's emotionless eyes flicked as she saw her older sister stood dead in track when she looked at the coffin of the spiky haired boy.

Her body trembled.

Her leg shook slightly and weakened as if she was about to collapse.

Mikoto covered her mouth as tear continued to stream down her wet cheek. While the image of that paled face reflected in her eyes, the chestnut haired girl couldn't take a step forward.

Upon watching, through a quick glance, one could see that so much emotions were swelling up inside the poor girl.

Noticing the reaction from Mikoto, the tawny haired teleporter took out a handkerchief from her pocket and gently helped wiping the tears on her onee-sama's cheek. The level 5 then gathered herself to gain back the strength in her leg. The two continued to walk into the crowd, to their seating place, trying to support on each other for the sudden lost.

Even from this distance, Misaka #10032 could clearly see the feeling that enveloped the two.

They look so vulnerable.

And….

…..ah…

Seeing such a heartbreak sigh, the short brown haired girl began closing her eyes, blinking several time when there was a sudden changed within her vision.

Why the view becomes so blurry?

Lowering the umbrella to her shoulder, the girl rubbed her eyes with her free hand. Little surprise that was showed in her lifeless iris as she saw a tiny stained on her sleeve.

There was something wet in her eyes.

Was this tear, she wondered.

Raising up the umbrella again, Misaka Imouto paid no more attention to it and moved her focus back on to the funeral happened in a far distance.

With one last look taking at the sight and the face of that boy, the former clone then turned around and silently made her way back to the entrance of the cemetery.

Waters rumbled on top her umbrella while the girl kept walking along with the small kitten that lied comfortably in her arm.

However, she halted her steps as the gate was right in front of her and looked down at the ground.

Now…

What will she do next after knowing that boy is no longer around?

Where should she need to go next now that she had taken one last look at his face and left his funeral?

What else can she do with this life now when it has become…less meaningful?

Misaka Imouto glanced down at the small kitten huddling itself further in her arm due to the cold rain. Her soft lip slightly moved but no voice escaped from the forming small gap.

It was wordless, the girl was thinking about something.

"….."

After a moment of pondering in silence, the girl began to move her feet and walked pass the gate. Her lifeless gaze scanned through millions of water crystals bead for direction.

Clearing the thoughts, the short brown haired girl continued her way to a location that appeared in her mind.

A location that marked the last moment of the meeting between Misaka Imouto and the boy named Kamijou Touma, the last time that she can still see the thinly small yet heartfelt smile he put on his face when he looked at her and talked to her.

A location that was also….filled with a painful experience whenever she, along with those whom the boy had set foot into their life, thought about it.

Misaka #10032 took a deep breath and shook her head, trying to discard this tingling pain in her chest.

Although this was just a random thought, she couldn't think of anything else to do beside from this.

There was no other way….

Still, she has to force herself to "accept" this cruel moment of life.

At this point, the life of Misaka #10032 has become meaningless.

Still, she needed to face, to embrace this horrible truth.

And moreover…

She will have to think of another way to get over this predicament.

But what else can she do?

This wrenching pain in her, no matter how hard she tried to suppress it, it just kept coming back and stayed there, waiting, seeking for a change to burst.

Her vision just kept getting blurrier and harder to see, perhaps this umbrella in her hand wasn't enough to cover her entirely from the strong, cold breeze of the weather.

And…

Since the former clone has no longer considered about the decision of shutting down her own life.

After this…..

What is there for her to look forward to when this moment pass?

Realizing the way the way her thought were turning into, Misaka #10032 quietly shook her head one more time and kept on moving.

….

….

….

 _A day ago….._

 _Inside the small room of a hospital located in District 7….._

 _A man with a face that somewhat resembled to a frog widened his eyes in bewilderment while he listened to a bizarre request from the person who was standing before him, bowing their head down._

" _...are you sure about this?"_

 _Heaven Canceller asked that person again with worry and anxious mixed in his voice, he wanted to confirm if he just heard right what that person said._

 _That person nodded, which made the doctor slightly frowned in response, deepened the troubled look that had already visible on his face. The old doctor didn't seem to expect this kind of situation would occur and he also didn't like where the conversation was going._

" _I understand why you came to this solution but this is a serious matter." He sighed, the chair the man was sitting on creaked a little."It's your life we're talking about here, have you really thought this through?"_

 _Giving another question in hope for a quick change of mind, Heaven Canceller seemed to try to persuade the girl who stood in front of him._

 _However, those words didn't seem to affect the short brown haired girl. The answer was still the same, her resolution won't waver so simply._

" _Yes, Misaka says as she bows again to show the doctor her determination."_

" _But what about-"_

" _Misaka knows what the doctor wants to say. But there is no more reason for Misaka to stay here since the boy is no longer around."_

" _But that is just…" Heaven Canceller wanted to retort back but a moment of hesitation in choosing the next word of the frog-faced doctor had let Misaka #10032 interrupt him._

" _Misaka has already made her decision and she won't take it back, that boy is the reason Misaka Sisters are still alive to this day. Thanks to him and onee-sama, we were able to enjoy this life."_

 _Heaven Canceller blinked at her, his pair of eyes, which filled with many experiences he himself has gained throughout his life in saving people from the brink of death, looked straight into the brown pair of Misaka Imouto._

 _It was so lifeless, so empty, completely devoid of any feeling._

 _Without the catch light, the girl's eyes looked even more emotionless than before._

 _But that wasn't all, there was another change in her that caught his attention._

… _they were able to enjoy this life…._

 _Were…?_

 _Past tense?_

 _Did this mean this young girl in front of him and the remaining sisters are no longer carrying the will to live on because of what had happened with the boy?_

 _Did they find this reality right now is filled with so much pain that they could not accept it and came up with this heartbreak solution?_

 _A moment of silence enveloped the small room. Behind the old doctor, the window frame lightly shook as a strong wind hit it, pressing it with so little an impact that it can only manage to create._

 _Aside from the advancing yet blurred light above the ceiling, within a few seconds, another bright light came from outside the window brightened the whole room. Lightings struck down from the dark horizon alongside with many heavy water drops._

 _Ever since that event occurred in the past few days, the weather had become like this and it didn't seem to stop any time soon._

"… _.."_

 _Breaking eye contact from Misaka #10032, the frog-faced doctor shifted his view back at the documents lying on his work desk while the short brown haired girl looked down at her feet, bangs covered nearly half of her expressionless face._

 _The girl continued, her voice was deeper than the usual monotone._

" _If he is….gone…..then Misaka can't think of any others reason to continue on with this life. Onee-sama has cried a lot ever since she heard of his predicament." A hand placed on her chest, gripping the pendant as she looked up." The Savior is the whole world to all of us. Without him, there's no meaning in pursuing this human life any further, it feels so empty. Even now, this beating heart inside Misaka is still aching so much from that emptiness."_

"… _."_

" _That is why….Misaka begs you, please put Misaka to sleep, a very deep slumber that her conscious mind won't have to wake up from, says Misaka as she once again bows her head, hoping the doctor to fulfill her selfish wish."_

"… _."_

 _The frog-faced doctor remained silent at the request, he exhaled deeply then turned his head back to the bowing short brown haired girl._

"… _..your sisters…."_

"… _..?"_

" _Are they having the same thought as you right now?"_

"… _.yes…" She nodded lightly."Currently, most of the Misaka Sisters are sharing the same decision. However, since the Network is needed to perform calculation by that person, the Administrator of the Network has been against this decision of ours. As a result, some of us are still hesitating to accept what the majority had agreed upon at the moment due to the situation of that person, Misaka replies truthfully."_

"… _.."_

" _But….."_

"… _.?"_

" _But even if that is the case, Misaka…this Misaka would prefer to keep her decision." The short brown haired girl wasn't finished and this time, she was referring to herself directly._

 _The pendant before her chest sparkled a bright light of thunder as another one struck down from the dark sky outside the window. Misaka Imouto gently held it up, the small heart shape accessory reflected in her emotionless yet visibly downcast eyes._

" _That boy had stepped into Misaka and onee-sama's life, he saved us all and we had decided to protect his dream altogether after that. Without him on this Earth, it is very unpleasant, very meaningless if Misaka's life filled with nothing but her memories of him."_

"… _I see…."_

 _The conversation stopped._

 _The atmosphere grew cold, even though the air conditioner had been switched to warm mode._

 _It was chilling to think about the choice the sisters had made._

 _Heaven Canceller closed his eyes and leaned his back on the chair._

 _Despair._

 _The kind of emotion that could easily pushed an individual over the edge of the abyss._

 _The kind of feeling that could sometime drive every mind into an unsettling, narrowed way of thinking._

 _If a person has already felt this emotion swelling up inside them, a small influence from any type of negative event or factor from the outside next can truly make them turn their back on the safe coastline instead of the deep dark abyss that once you take a step forward, you will forever sink into the deep of the eternal darkness with that final single step._

 _It was this emotion._

 _It was because of this type of feeling that they had become this way._

 _Considering how things had turned out in these recent days. Perhaps, it was alright for them to feel like this._

… _..but….._

 _But was it all right for them to no longer choose to continue to walk on the path, to live with the meaningful life that the boy had showed them?_

"…"

… _..then again….._

 _If the loss of that boy had made them think and came up with this anguish choice._

 _Then….perhaps…_

 _To them…..to the Misaka Sisters, that spiky haired boy is….._

… _..he must had meant a lot to them..._

 _A thin smile formed on the old frog-faced doctor, it was somewhat happy and sad at the same time yet also simple and less broad than a normal one. The expression was somewhere in between but bittersweet perhaps didn't really make itself the best word to describe his expression._

 _An understanding smile._

 _Kamijou Touma, the boy who suddenly moved on and parted from this world, had left behind a deep impression to those who connected to him._

 _Now, without him around, those impressions are still there but shattered and tainted with tears along with the memories of his time with them._

 _It affected them so greatly to the point that this unexpected course of event has driven some of them to this circumstance._

 _However, when looking at a different aspect, this very fact also proves how precious that boy is to them._

… _he really is important to them….._

 _The doctor known as Heaven Canceller then slowly opened his eyes and looked at Misaka Imouto who was waiting for his response. At this moment, he saw her hands was trembling slightly._

 _Then he noticed more, Misaka #10032's arm, feet and body was shaking so weakly that one can hardly see with just a brief glance._

 _Did the young girl feel nervous by the very decision that she and her sisters had made up their mind and chose?_

 _By any chance, if the answer from him is yes, she, along with the remaining 9969 clones will be put into a very deep hibernation that their subconscious mind would forever accompanied with the darkness and never saw the day light again just as they have wished. Did that kind of scenario is playing inside her head and is the cause of such reaction?_

 _No….._

 _Since her emotion had been suppressed, was it possible for her to be able to display such reaction through her body language asides from the usual blank expression and monotone voice?_

 _If so…then….._

 _Heaven Canceller leaned back on his chair once more with a creaking sound. The answer came…_

" _Even so, I can't do that."_

 _Misaka #10032 widened her emotionless eyes at the response, words slowly slipped from her soft lip._

" _Why? Misaka asks you…"_

" _It's because of Kamijou-kun."_

 _Another small reaction came from the girl as she began looking up to the frog-faced doctor at the mentioning of the boy's name._

" _I know what kind of person that boy is, he was a regular patient of this hospital after all. The nurses and the doctors who work here are all familiar with him." The doctor brought a hand to his chin, thinking again about his statement."….hmm….no, perhaps it would be more right to say that we all know that boy too well."_

"… _.."_

" _And knowing him, I'm sure he would never want this to happen. That boy is your savior, isn't he? He and your sister have tried their best to create a new path in your life so you and the remaining sisters could walk on that path and live like a normal human being. And now, you yourself are still standing here because of that very same reason, is it not?"_

"… _..Misaka…"_

 _The short brown haired girl muttered quietly, she wanted to say something but unable to as those words circulated in her mind seemed to stuck in her throat._

 _No, that's not it._

 _She knew she couldn't retort back to what the doctor said, a part of herself also didn't want to._

 _It's is…._

 _The doctor was right._

 _The reason she can still stand here was because of the effort of that spiky haired boy and her onee-sama. If their didn't intervene the event happened on that day, she, the Misaka Sister with the serial number #10032, would have been cease to exist till this day._

 _While thinking back on that moment and letting those words from the doctor ran through her mind, Misaka Imouto once again diverted her expressionless gaze at the floor, remaining silent in the progress._

 _Seeing how his words from earlier had an impact on the girl, Heaven Canceller continued in a soft, caring tone._

" _Moreover, as a doctor, my job is to help people and look after them, not the other way around. Among the rules which define the duty that I am carrying on my shoulder, there is an oath that we all share in our own community."_

 _The frog-faced doctor then brought up his hand and pointed at his left chest, which was where the heart laid, with his thumb._

" _To the best of his/her abilities, a doctor must put all their skills into helping their patients and tread them with care like it is a matter between life and death of themselves. As a person who works in the medical field, I myself value that oath deeply to the bottom of my heart. With all my abilities, I can only help my patient to get better with their recovery so they can continue to keep going on their own "path" instead of harming them."_

"…"

" _So, not only because of Kamijou-kun, it's also because I am a doctor that I can't fulfill that request of yours, I can't afford to help you to shut down your own mind and leave you while you stumble on your path like that. I'm sorry, I just can't do something like that to my patient."_

 _Misaka #10032 weakly moved her head, nodding at the doctor. Heaven Canceller looked at the girl for a moment then he left out a small sigh, the thin smile on his face slow faded away._

" _And also….I'm sorry I can't bring him back to all of you."_

"… _.eh…?"_

 _All of you…_

 _Misaka Imouto somehow felt that word alone didn't really aim at her and the sisters. The apology of the frog-faced doctor must had seemed to be directed at not just them._

 _It was directed to everyone who knew that unfortunate spiky haired boy._

" _Even with the title Heaven Canceller I received from those who were once under my care, there is always a limit to my abilities." The frog-faced doctor brought up his hands and gazed down at its palm."Just like any normal doctor, I can't save someone who has already passed away. Sometime, working in this field is like charging into a fierce battlefield, each time performing surgery is each time you race through a battle with the odd of 50/50 is that either you may unexpectedly get hit by a stray bullet or you eventually make it out alive."_

 _Turning his view back to the documents scattered on the desk, with a creaking sound, the chair Heaven Canceller was sitting on moved close to it and the frog-faced doctor began flipping through pages as he picked out a profile lying underneath one of the documents._

" _During the whole time while working in this city of science, my experience has helped me to never stumble across such a boundary and thanks to that, I has successfully saved many patients and made it out alive from my own battlefield."_

"… _.."_

 _The flipping sound halted, it was no longer repeating the moment Heaven Canceller stopped moving his hand._

"… _.that is…until that morning came….." The doctor spoke to a halt while looking at an image in the file."When the nurses informed me about the boy's unfortunate circumstance and he had been sent here, I rushed to him to check his condition, thinking that maybe he was involved with another accident and just got himself some bruises and injuries like usual."_

 _The picture of Kamijou Touma, which was copied from his student ID card, fitted neatly at one corner of the page in his patient record. Right under the boy's info was a long list of history, the dates when the boy visited or was transported to this hospital to seek treatment were displayed._

 _The detail was trivial and short but some of the reasons for being hospitalized of the boy could give quite a chilling feeling to the person who read his record._

 _Brain damage, broken bones, severed arm, loss of blood, etc._

 _Upon reading, anyone would think that the boy was extremely endurable. But a single last line of that long list had marked the end of that thought._

 _The frog-faced doctor continued._

" _But on the contrary to my thought, by the time I arrived there, I realized that everything was worse than I could imagine. I had never expected to see Kamijou-kun in such a critical state…no, at that time, it couldn't be called critical anymore." The doctor slightly narrowed his eyes as if a sour flavor was flowing in his mouth."They said that his heart has already stopped beating when his body was found, that boy has already passed away even before the ambulance took him to this hospital. I believed so too when I tried to feel his pulse."_

 _The sensation lingered around the boy's lifeless form on that morning, Heaven Canceller still remembered it very clearly upon touching his skin._

 _It was dreadfully ice cold. Moreover, the frostbitten mark that spread from the wrist to the entire hand added another heavy mental blow to any person who saw it._

" _At that very moment, I saw myself stumbled on the line that I have never stepped on before. The odd of saving that boy wasn't a 50/50 anymore, the chance was lower than that. It was slim, too slim for a miracle to happen even if such a thing does exists in this kind of city."_

 _Misaka #10032 looked down at the ground, the girl felt something in her chest started aching as she heard him but still listening carefully._

 _If a person's heart has stopped beating for a day, then there is no chance to save them._

 _If the odd of a person to survive with many fatal wounds on their body is a 1/100, then there is no hope of trying to take them back from the reaper's grasp._

 _So…_

 _Since Kamijou's case was the combination of both "if", in the end, nothing could be done to bring him back._

" _Reviving his heart in such a state is impossible….it would be meaningless to send him into the emergency room."_

"… _."_

 _But even so…._

" _Yet…even so, despite the circumstance, I still did that. Do you know why?"_

"… _?!"_

 _Misaka Imouto raised her head up, her emotionless, blank pair of eyes slowly widened in wonder as the question intrigued her._

 _There was no point in saving that boy since he had been in such a horrible state, but the doctor known as Heaven Canceller was still willing to try his best to revive the boy's dead heart despite knowing his action was entirely useless._

 _Why is that?_

" _Perhaps, it maybe because of my age that I start seeing things. But in all those years of working here, I know my eyes will never deceive me. Saying this might be really strange, it's not even making much sense in the least but….." The doctor rubbed his chin and looked up the ceiling as he recalled."The true is…..while I was checking his body condition….."_

"… _.."_

" _At one point, I thought I saw_ _ **his right hand was twitching slightly**_ _."_

 _Misaka Imouto was confused at his words._

 _Something as bizarre as that, did it really happen?_

 _It was hard to believe…_

" _Such a story, anyone who heard that would find it hard to believe. Everything surrounds that piece of fantasy is truly a mystery, it caught me surprised a few time."_

 _The short brown haired girl was starting to become more confused as she didn't really understand the way Heaven Canceller referred to a certain mysterious power that resided within the right hand of that boy._

" _After witnessed such a sight, I quickly sent Kamijou-kun's body to the emergency room for an immediate surgery, in hope that something may happen. When a heart stops beating, every part of the body will cease functioning. Normally, that right hand was not supposed to move or even has the strength or the force to twitch the fingers."_

"…"

" _And yet it did, so what did that mean?"_

 _Although Heaven Canceller saw it as an unexplainable thing that stood outside the border of this world and the knowledge which can only be explained by science, it was still a part of the spiky haired boy._

 _This fact itself is undeniable._

 _And knowing it somehow still able to "function" and twitch, a single ray of hope rose up in the frog-faced doctor._

" _I thought the surgery might cause something to happen if I try to revive his heart."_

 _He tried….._

 _But in the end, the surgery wasn't able to change anything._

 _Nothing had happened, the outcome was still the same._

 _The window frame shook again as another strong gust of wind hit against it thick glass. Silence took hold the room once the doctor finished._

 _Misaka Imouto did not know what to say and remained still._

 _Heaven Canceller then closed the document and placed it back on his desk, he inhaled deeply._

" _In my entire career, I never thought there would be a moment I want a miracle to happen in one of my patient's surgery. It made me wonder if I was really that desperate."_

 _Standing up from his seat, the medical genius frog-faced doctor approached the window, which frame was still emitting those rumbling sound continuously. Both hands behind his back, the doctor stood straight as he watched the rampage of the bad weather._

 _His words continued._

" _Or was it the desperation at time that was the cause of making me see such an illusion about the right hand of that boy."_

 _Illusion….._

 _Whether it was real or not._

 _The doctor wasn't even sure himself, he couldn't really tell what he had seen on that morning was true or just simply an illusion filled his vision due to his desperation of trying to bring that boy back from the other side of the Sanzu river._

 _He didn't have anything to clarify or back up for what he just spoke out. But he still told this to a young girl in despair._

 _Perhaps, there was more to the story than it seemed. There was something else that Heaven Canceller wanted to tell Misaka #10032 through this story of his._

 _As the two stood there, letting silence filled the room once more, several knocking sounds echoed from the door behind Misaka Imouto. It opened as another person outside pushed the metallic slide door to the side and walked in._

 _That person was another young girl with short brown haired, the Tokiwadai uniform she was wearing could be seen soaked wet at several places._

" _Nyan~."_

 _In her arms, lied a black kitten who was quickly let out a soft meow at one of its caretakers as two pair of emotionless eyes met._

" _#10909."_

 _The frog-faced doctor turned around to look at the new comer once he heard the name, blinking in surprise._

" _Oh, if I recall correctly, your checkup is supposed to be in this afternoon."_

" _Yes, it is, replies Misaka."The Misaka with the serial number #10909 spoke with a polite nod."According to the schedule, Misaka should be here in the next 3 hours for you to perform the regular physical examination. There's still a few time left before the meeting arrangement with the doctor."_

 _That emotionless gaze of her changed as she faced forward and casted it on her sister, despite her words kept directing at Heaven Canceller._

" _However, this Misaka is not here because of that, she's here for a different reason, says Misaka as she informs the doctor."_

 _#10909 approached Imouto when she finished her speech, the little kitten in her arms reached out its paw toward #10032 as if wanting to get back to its owner as the two sisters stood close. But the latter didn't seem to pay any mind to that while her emotionless eyes reflected a hint of surprise at another clone's unexpected arrival._

" _Misaka wishes to talk to you."_

" _?"_

 _Before Imouto could even speak up, #10909 continued._

" _Misaka knows that she could have communicated with you via the Misaka Network at any time instead of going all the way here. But as she has stated earlier, this Misaka is here for a reason and she wants to convey it to you directly. A face to face conversation would be the best choice for her to make her words clear."_

 _From the way the girl put it, whatever it was, this "reason" must had been really important. Heaven Canceller and Misaka Imouto couldn't help but stood there in silence, wanting to hear her words as #10909 equal monotone carried a big weight behind it._

 _Hugging the small kitten closer to her chest while those pair of emotionless eyes was casted down to her feet, #10909's lip moved._

" _Misaka wishes to live."_

" _?!"_

" _Because of this event, the aching sensation inside ours body won't go away despite so many time we tried to make it so. It is very unpleasant yet we have no other option but to acknowledge this, ignoring and rejecting the pain won't lead us, the Sisters, to anywhere."_

 _True._

 _It has never been easy for them and for those who knew about the fate of that boy, facing it was the only way to help them overcome this tragedy. But what will be left for them now that they has lost one of the most important parts of the purpose of their existence?_

 _What else can they see in the world now contained nothing but a dark, gloomy future for the Sisters and the Original?_

 _The "light" which shined the path they walks has gone, it became pitch black and broken. What more reason could they have to keep on moving in that total blackness?_

 _Having no road to continue, no light to lead the way, it was no different than meeting a dead end in life. Even for someone who had their emotion suppressed to a minimum, the feeling was indeed more than what a person can take._

" _Even though it's unbearable and difficult to handle this dreadful feeling, Misaka still want to keep on living this life that her onee-sama and that boy had spent so much effort to show us on that night. She hates to throw it all away, therefore, she couldn't find herself to accept the decision that you and the rest of the unit have come up with. Forever shutting down our consciousness and living like a lifeless vessel, it feels so sad and painful to be in such a state, Misaka doesn't want that."_

"… _.but we failed our reason for living this life, aren't we, #10909? That boy is gone and onee-sama is in pain. There is nothing else we can do to make her feel better, there is nothing else in this life that's worth for us to pursuit further...….."_

 _At #10032's respond, #10909 outstretched both arms with the black kitten now held in between her hands toward #10032, handling him to her sister. Noticing this, Misaka Imouto hesitantly let out her palms for her pet to jump in. The cat seemed delighted and curled up cutely with his head rubbing against the girl's brown vest._

" _It feels empty, Misaka understands your feeling. However, if the Misaka Sisters decide to end our life right here, what will onee-sama think about this when she found out that we, her little sisters, have given up the will to live?"_

"…"

" _Who else will comfort onee-sama if her friends and everyone around her is having the same lost as her?"_

"… _."_

 _#10909 pointed a finger at the black kitten._

" _And who else will play with Dog if we aren't there to look after him? Wouldn't it be too cruel to selfishly abandon him and leave onee-sama behind like that?"_

 _Another question was spoke yet silence struck the room as Misaka #10032 couldn't find any word to reply back. They all hit in the right spot, it made a lot of sense._

 _While Imouto was looking down at the kitten with her mind lost in deep thought by those words, Misaka #10909 took a step closer to her until their distance was merely an arm's length away from each other._

 _Having caught attention by the girl's shadow which entered her view, Misaka #10032 slowly faced forward and the pair of emotionless gazes met once more._

" _This aching sensation here….." The little sister with the serial number 10909 brought a hand to her chest as she spoke in the usual monotone but soft."…is what everyone in the Network is experienced. As a person who also has her emotion being suppressed due to experimenting purpose, Misaka is still having some troubles in understanding what these feelings truly mean. She couldn't grasp it full meaning like a normal human being yet."_

 _The hand started to form into a fist, gripping the Tokiwadai uniform tightly._

" _But there is one thing that she knows about this feeling. Just as we all feel it, it's hurt, it's empty. It's a wrenching pain that we must endure when we lost something important in our life. This…..is a heartbreak….or how they call it, Misaka presumes."_

 _Heaven Canceller raised his eyebrows at the two girls as somewhere in that conversation had caught his attention and a thought silently formed in his head._

 _Never seem to mind the observed gaze the doctor was giving, #10909 pressed on._

" _For a single emotion to be this hard to bear, even every units in the Misaka Network could not handle it well. Yet unlike us, onee-sama doesn't have any restriction in displaying her emotional feeling, she could convey it and understand it easily, more than we could. Such a negative emotion like that to cause havoc inside your mind and body. How do you think onee-sama will react if she knows about this? Asks Misaka in hope her words would make you and the other units to reconsider this matter."_

 _The answer was obvious._

 _Misaka Imouto knew, she knew that this solution would cause more pain to the Original. In this moment, they all were suffered the same lost._

 _This lost brought despair to them._

 _This lost was more than they could take, even for those whom emotion was not opened to a standard extent like a normal person._

 _So what would happen if more pain was added to someone who was already on the verge of despair, broken-hearted like Misaka Mikoto?_

 _If this happens…_

 _If they really give up this life…._

" _Onee-sama will have a mental breakdown…"_

 _It would only make things worse._

"… _..yes, that would likely be the case. Knowing onee-sama, that is what will happen to her if the Sisters still selfishly decide to let go of this life. This situation has become too much for onee-sama to bear….."_

"… _.so are we….." Imouto added in with a weak voice._

 _Was this the right choice?_

 _That question began to form inside Misaka #10032's mind and as a result, it was processed and sent straight into the Network._

 _The Misaka Sisters who had agreed with the decision to be shut down their conscious mind started to wonder about their choice, asking themselves whether it was right or wrong to come up with this solution of this life._

 _The Misaka Sisters who had went against that same decision remained silent and gave no comment._

 _The life they had lead so far, the path they had walked so far._

 _Up to this day, it was thanks to the effort of their sister who was the third strongest level 5 esper of this city of science and a certain piky haired boy on that fateful night back in August that they were able to stand here._

 _It was thanks to Misaka Mikoto and that unlucky boy that they can be freed from that horrible Level 6 Shift project and a new path opened before their eyes._

 _By taking this path, they were able to get closer to a normal life of a normal human being step by step, little by little._

 _By walking this path, they were able to experience the feeling that a normal person always have during lifetime._

 _Walking under a bright, heating sun in summer._

 _Letting a cold breeze gently grazed the skin during winter._

 _Getting that mysterious "doki doki" sound from inside the chest whenever the image of that boy comes to mind._

 _Just by accepting this path, they had had many enjoyable moments of life and freedom._

 _And now, with the "sad end" of that boy, with the light complete lost forever in the darkness and no longer shines the path again, the road can't no longer be continued._

 _Everything had become meaningless._

 _But was it alright to let it all go? Was this the right choice?_

 _Letting this life go would also mean let go every precious thing they had experienced and cherished so far. It would be the same with throwing away the effort of onee-sama and that boy after everything they had done to them into waste._

… _..yes, that would be too cruel…_

 _Misaka #10032 herself didn't want this and she knew, the other Misaka Sisters also knew that this kind of solution that they came up with was just a desperation to escape from this pain, this reality._

 _It was wrong, what they did was no different from running away._

 _The path that had collapsed right in front of their feet, they wanted to continue to walk on it, to keep on living this life they were offered._

 _However, by doing so, they would have to overcome this aching sensation of lost, they would need to accept a life without that boy, a path without even a tiny source of light to lead the way from this point on._

"… _this is harsh, isn't it, #10909?" Misaka #10032 muttered in a low tone._

" _It is, Misaka admits." The other former clone nodded her head softly as she heard it."It would not be easy to move forward from here. It might take time to recover from this sudden lost. We don't know how long it will be but this Misaka will make sure to endure and overcome this. This life is precious to her after all, says Misaka as she shows #10032 her resolution."_

"… _Misaka…"_

 _Imouto looked to one of her many sisters and uttered, trying to say something while having no idea formed in her head. She was still feeling conflicted about her choice of life._

 _#10909 and some of the other units didn't have any intention to be shut down and wish to keep on with this life. The other Misaka Sisters in the Network had also begun to change their point of view toward the suicidal solution from before and aimed for the same purpose as the girl._

 _Words had been spread throughout the Network and the change was quick to take effect, the thought of asking the doctor to shut down their conscious mind was no longer available in the Network._

 _However, there was one thing left they would need to breakthrough._

 _The only one thing left that needed to be dealt with was to face this reality, the heart-wrenching pain in their chest._

 _They all realized it would be the most difficult thing to be done. Since to overcome this sensation, they would need to start accepting the fact that Kamijou Touma is no longer around in this world._

"… _Misaka….."_

 _Misaka #10032's word stopped there, her body started trembling so lightly that she didn't aware of it._

… _it hurts….._

 _It hurt more whenever the short brown haired girl thought about it. She couldn't understand._

 _Why was it so hard to accept this?_

 _Why did it hurt so much….more than before?_

" _You should take it slow."_

 _At this moment, Heaven Canceller spoke up as he sat back on the chair._

" _As your sister has already said, it will never be easy enduring and trying to accept the loss of someone important to you. A scar may never fade through time, but time will ease the pain it causes. What happened to Kamijou-kun was very sudden and we are all still struggling from his lost so you don't have to force yourself to accept this fact so soon, just let the time heal your wound. As long as you and the rest of the sisters didn't let yourself stray from the path that boy had set up for you, everything will be fine. And besides, I'm sure that boy would have said the same thing to many of you."_

 _Both sisters turned their eyes to the frog-faced doctor when they heard that._

" _Kamijou-kun was a good boy, perhaps a little bit stubborn with his injuries but still, he wouldn't want something like this to happen to his friends. If he knows the Misaka Sisters and everyone around him to end up becoming depressed this much because of him, he would feel sad and blame himself for it, no?"_

"…"

 _Yes, they could imagine it. For someone like him, that could happen._

" _By the way, I see each of you has begun to_ _ **develop your own individual personality**_ _, hm."_

 _Hearing such unexpected words, the two girls slightly widened their eyes in surprise._

" _Based from the earlier conversation of both of you, the change might not be much, perhaps out of consciousness but I think I could see a few hints." A thin smile showed on the doctor's face."You started expressing your own opinion more openly on an emotional level. Even though the facial expression didn't show much, you feel hurt because of what has lost and you can still show such sadness inside you in a clearer way, and due to this unfortunate event, you let it pushed you on edge and those negative thoughts soon took over, yet there are a few exceptions with opposite thoughts, too."_

 _Heaven Canceller was addressing to both of them, what had happened from earlier._

" _I may not be a philosopher and never aim to be one but let me tell you this, sometime, life could be so unpredictably hurtful. Aside from the enjoyable moments you all had experienced, there are also the moments it will bring you pains such as this. Along with happiness and joy, hurt can be a part of those emotions."_

 _The chair let out a small creaking sound as the doctor turned to them, with an advice, he pointed up a finger._

" _Remember these feelings, it is because of these type of emotions that makes you a true human being. It hurts but you cannot deny it anymore, you have become more human than you could ever realize."_

"…"

" _So now, that much is everything I can say to you for now. What will you do next with these feelings is up to you. I'm sorry I can't follow your wish." Heaven Canceller awkwardly rubbed the back of his head, the thin smile on his face didn't seem like it will fade away._

" _No, Misaka understands what the doctor says, Misaka replies as she feels grateful at his words."_

 _Misaka #10032 gave a light bow after that and the doctor just nodded, he glad that the atmosphere had become lighter, not as tense as the beginning._

 _The Sisters were no longer think about that heartbreaking solution, everything seemed to have work out peacefully._

" _So what will you do now?"_

 _A short pause came as Heaven Canceller and Misaka #10909 waited for a respond from the girl._

"… _..Misaka…"_

 _#10032 looked down at the black kitten who was waving its paw around to reach the pendant on her neck. The girl tried to search for an answer but she still had no idea what to do after this, the conflict inside her mind hasn't died down._

" _Misaka…..don't know."_

 _But at the very least, she knew what she should do in order to take a step forward in this path._

" _Misaka don't want to let go of this life he gave us."_

 _At the moment, that was all she could say….._

…..

…

…

Watching the rain fell heavily outside the window, an old doctor poured a good amount of hot tea into his cup before turning back to his working desk and flicked open some of the pages of a single document placed on it.

Heaven Canceller's eyes surfed through the details of a certain black spiky haired boy's patient record one last time before finally closing it back. As the flipping sound stopped, another bright light of thunder struck down from the sky caused the window frame to shake slightly.

The roaring voice of the weather's rampage brought an uncomfortable feeling to the entire room.

It never stopped, the weather has been like this for several days.

This time, with a short sigh, he placed the tea cup on his desk and put the boy's record back onto a large size cabinet next there. As he was about to close the glass door and lock it, the words that spelled the name of that unfortunate boy on one side of the document entered his view.

"…."

Staring at it for a few minutes, the doctor eventually closed the door frame and returned to his desk with the cup of hot tea while he reached to it.

His eyebrows slightly narrowed as he took a gulp.

…it's lukewarm…..

For some reason, he felt both the taste and the smell of this tea has become less attractive to his appetite recently, not like before.

Perhaps knowing today was that boy's funeral, he has unknowingly let such influent thought to affect him.

…who would have thought the day I stop looking at your patient record would be this kind of day, huh….Kamijou-kun….

He would expect it to be something different.

Like any other patients that had and has been under his care, he would expect the boy to be back to his own path and continue it with his best.

But at this point, such expectation would never become true and nothing can change it.

While the frog-faced doctor seemed to have lost in his own reminiscence, several knocks on the door pulled his mind back to reality. The door that lead to his office opened halfway and a nurse revealed herself to inform him.

"Sensei, a new patient has just got transported in, the emergency room is ready for the operation."

"I see, I'll be on my way immediately."

The nurse nodded and left the door for him.

Heaven Canceller stood up from his chair and began to leave the room. At the final step before he closed the door, the doctor took one last glance at Kamijou's patient record.

Then, something like a melancholy feeling rose deep within that gaze of his as the memory of that morning came back to his mind.

The frog-faced doctor closed the door and walked away.

On that morning when he performed surgery to check the condition of that boy, perhaps for the first time in his medical career…..

...It seems like….I didn't really make it out alive from my own battlefield this time…

Heaven Canceller had lost against a battle of his own.

The heavy rain went on as the doctor footsteps slowly descended its sound along the long, dark corridor.

* * *

 **[Between the line]**

While making her way toward a certain destination in her mind, something caught her attention.

"W-wait! You dropped your umbrella!"

A loud voice came from somewhere, making Imouto turned her head to look at the source.

On the other side of the road, some pedestrians tried to call out to someone from the distance. Next to them was a wet umbrella that was rolling on the ground due to the strong wind.

Misaka #10032 then shifted her emotionless eyes to the direction where they were looking.

And….

Through the hazy view, she only managed to see a few strings of hair with chocolate color floated in the air before it disappeared behind a corner.

The young girl stood there and watched in ponder, she didn't catch on what just happened.

Did someone just drop their umbrella and leave it there for good?

Little did the short brown haired girl knew.

A second ago, there was a girl who ran past there with tears in her eyes, with her clothe completely soaked in wet due to a sudden fall.

A girl with chocolate haired that fluffy like a cotton candy….

* * *

 **Author's note:  
**

 **Well, that would be the end of the second part of Misaka Imouto's story. I hope the decent length (in my opinion) of the chapter satisfied you after that long break.**

 **At first I thought I could make this chapter as the end of her story, but after that (tick mark pops out) moment of life that filled with misfortune like a certain author with a question mark had once commented in the other story. The plan has changed, Imouto will have a three parts story of her own so the next chapter will be a "little bit" short.**

 **Although I said Misaka #10032's story consists of 3 chapters, this chapter seemed to focus on a small story of Heaven Canceller, too as you has seen. For the intention of moving the plot a little, I added the frog-faced doctor's point of view and showed how it worked toward the sad end of the spiky haired boy. Although this is an alternative universe, I'm still not quite sure if I had portrayed his personality in a suitable way as shown in the cannon or not. I guess I will leave this to you to decide.**

 **By the way, in case you might not have noticed yet, the [Between the line] I added in was to remind us that this chapter takes place during chapter 3, the story of the Misaka Sisters happens before a certain girl takes her final step into the infinite so please be at ease and don't worry, the truth will be revealed in about [ ] chapters. (wink, wink)  
**

 **So that will be the end of this note, the next chapter might take some time but I'll try to shorten the gap.**

 **/**

 **Next time: The so called "date" between her and him.**

 **Kamijou: "Now I just realized this, not all ojou-samas are acting all elegant and gentle like we all know. The moment you turn your back to them, it was like leaving yourself full of opening in front of a predator's claw."**

 **/**

 **Well, I'll see you in the next note.**


End file.
